Dark Goddess: E&B Version
by Lissa Bryan
Summary: A free-spirited archaeologist & a shy, absent-minded genius find a 500 year old vampire who thinks she's a goddess. They're try to sneak back to the US, teach her about the modern world, and trying very, very hard not to fall in love with the Dark Goddess. OOC/AU/Rated M
1. Chapter 1

A/N: _Twilight_ and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I'm just borrowing them for a bit and will return them washed and neatly folded.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Dark Goddess<strong>_

By Lissa Bryan

~.~

**Chapter One**

..

Edward ordered his jet fueled as soon as he got Jacob's message. He went upstairs and pulled one of the Hermès suitcases out of the closet and began tossing clothes into it at random while he dialed his mother's number. Esme Cullen answered, and her smooth, modulated, lady-like voice held a hint of surprise that her son would be calling. It was a Wednesday. He usually only called on Monday and Thursday. "Hello, darling."

"Hello, mother. I'm calling to tell you that I'm sorry, but I won't be able to make it to your luncheon tomorrow." It was for one of her numerous charity fundraisers; he couldn't remember what cause it supported, but Tanya had reminded him about it right before she left this afternoon to go shopping.

"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that." Esme did not need to ask. She simply waited for the explanation she knew would be forthcoming. She knew him too well.

"Jacob called. He's on a dig in South America and he's run into some trouble."

Esme's voice cooled, though almost imperceptibly, as it did whenever Jacob was the subject of conversation. "Not too serious, I hope."

"I don't know what it is. He sent me a text message asking for my help."

"When will you return?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure. A few days, I'd guess."

"Will Tanya still be coming to the luncheon?"

He flinched. Tanya would be furious. "I ... uh ... I can't say. I haven't spoken to her. She should be home soon and I -" He heard the sound of the front door opening. "She's home. I'll have her call you, all right?"

"All right. Be safe, darling."

"Sure. Love you." Edward disconnected and headed out into the hall. He could see Tanya down in the foyer, sliding her purse from her shoulder. Her little dog, Noodles, hopped out of it onto the marble floor. Noodles saw Edward at the top of the stairs and glared at him. Edward glared right back. He hated that dog. It was poorly trained, spoiled, and left messes on his antique Aubusson rugs. Behind them, the driver entered, staggering under a load of bulging shopping bags. "Upstairs, Miss?"

"Yes." Tanya said, without sparing him a glance, and he headed up the stairs, huffing under the heavy load, and through the door into to Tanya's dressing room, a guest bedroom they had converted to hold all of her clothes and shoes. Edward stepped aside as the driver passed and murmured the _"Thank you_" that Tanya should have given him. Tanya spotted Edward and smiled. "Hello, honey. Whew! What a day! I had to go all over town to find the new Christian Louboutins! And the sales clerk at Divas? She had the _nerve_ to try to tell me that they're not out yet. I said -"

Edward interrupted because he could see Tanya was about to work herself up into a full-blown fit of pique and he couldn't wait until after she'd calmed to tell her his news. "Can you come up here for a moment? I need to speak with you."

She started up the stairs, with a faint frown. Her hand slid gracefully up the railing, her massive diamond engagement ring winking in the light. She followed him into the bedroom and froze when she saw the suitcase on the bed. "Where are you going?"

He tried to brace himself. "South America."

Her eyes narrowed. "Did _he_ call you?" Edward was surprised she'd remembered where Jacob had gone.

"He did."

"And so you go running to save him from whatever mess he's gotten himself into this time."

"Tanya, he's -"

"I know, I know," she spat. "He's been your best friend since you were six. I've heard it before, Edward. What about _me_? I'm your fiancee. You should care more about what_ I_ want."

"I _do_ care about what you want."

"No you don't! I'll have to go to that luncheon tomorrow alone. Do you know how that will _look_? Everybody who's anybody will be there." Tanya came from a middle-class family and was deeply conscious of her social status as his fiancee, about being accepted by the realm of "high society." She was obsessed with having the "right" clothes, the "right" shoes, and the "right" house in the "right" neighborhood. Even her little dog, Noodles, had been chosen for bloodline and appearance rather than actual affection.

"You won't be alone. You'll be with my mother." Esme was a far better champion in the social sphere than he was.

"People will think you don't care enough about me to be with me!"

"That's not true," Edward protested. "Just tell them - "

"That you ditched me for Jacob again? I am _not_ saying that!" Tanya's dark eyes flashed with anger. "The time has come, Edward, for you to choose which one of us means more to you. Me, or_ him_."

Edward said nothing. He stuffed some socks into his bag. He hoped they matched, but he had no way of knowing.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Me, or _him_?"

"You're serious? Jesus, Tanya."

Tears splashed down her cheeks. They had ceased to affect him since she'd demonstrated she could pull them up on cue. "Are you staying with me, or going to _him_?"

"I'm going. I have to."

She whipped off her engagement ring and threw it at him. It hit Edward's cheekbone with enough force to leave a cut. He felt a small trickle of blood run down his face and clapped a hand to it instinctively.

"Don't expect me to be here when you come back!" she snapped and whirled to run from the room. Wincing, Edward went into the bathroom and dabbed the blood from his cut away with a piece of tissue paper. He stared into the mirror and realized his heart should be breaking right now, but all he felt was a faint sense of relief that the argument was over for the time being. He cleaned the cut carefully and then applied a butterfly bandage.

He returned to the bedroom and saw the ring lying on the carpet. He picked it up and put it on the bedside table. It would serve her right if he left it there for that annoying little dog of hers to swallow. It had a magpie-like voracity for shiny things and had once swallowed a beer bottle cap when Edward carelessly let one fall to the floor while he was watching television, necessitating a midnight trip to the emergency veterinarian. Edward wished he'd kept the x-ray, because he'd found the image strangely hilarious, much to Tanya's fury, despite the fact that the emergency had been easily and painlessly resolved with an emetic.

He finished packing and put his laptop and Kindle and their respective chargers into a carry-on bag. He headed for the stairs. Tanya was nowhere in sight. His driver sat waiting on a chair by the door. He stood when he saw Edward and took the suitcase from his hand when Edward reached him. "Is this all, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you." One of the things Esme had taught Edward was to be polite to everyone, whatever their social status. It was how a gentleman or lady should behave, and it was something he could not get Tanya to understand. She seemed to think wealth and highly-placed friends relieved her of the burden of courtesy to those "below" her.

Edward climbed into the back of the car while the driver put his bag into the trunk. He sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. He was hoping that Tanya would come to the door and at least wave him off, if not offer him a goodbye kiss before he left.

The driver got into the car and they pulled out of the driveway. The door remained firmly shut and there was no crying Tanya who ran out to the car to kiss him one last time before he left, to sob that she loved him. Edward settled back, disquieted. Maybe she was really serious this time.

If it really was the end, Jacob would be delighted. He'd always disliked Tanya. Jacob kept insisting Edward could do better, that he _should_ do better. Being with Tanya, he said, was ruining his chances of finding the girl that was really right for him, which had been the subject of the conversation - argument, rather- that they'd had nearly six weeks prior, right before Jacob left for Catalupa.

_"Dude, she _cheated_ on you!"_

_"She was lonely. I left her alone." Edward defended her automatically, using the excuses that she had given and he had accepted._

_"Edward, you were gone for_ three days."

Edward didn't really want to articulate the real reason that he didn't want to lose her, though he was pretty sure Jake already knew. Tanya was comfortable. Tanya kept his mother from nagging him about "settling down". Tanya had pursued him, had pushed their relationship through all of its stages from initiating their first kiss to picking out an engagement ring. All right, so she wasn't all that bright, but Edward got enough intellectual stimulation at the university, right? And listening to Tanya babble about designer clothing or the subtle machinations of her climb up the social ladder allowed his mind to drift. It was almost Zen, actually.

They arrived at the airport and Edward took his bag from the driver with a word of thanks and a nice, fat tip pressed into the palm of his hand as Edward shook it. He always tipped heavily to try to make up for Tanya's rudeness. His jet sat on the tarmac and the pilot stood at the top of the rolling metal staircase. Edward knew the pilot, and so was able to greet him and chat for a moment while the co-pilot went through all of the safety checks. The flight attendant, however, was a stranger. He stammered and blushed through his "_Please_s" and "_Thank you_s", the only conversation that he could manage. She was friendly, but the pushy type, and the pilot eventually had to call her off to rescue poor Edward, whose face was fire engine red and whose stammer was making his few words almost unintelligible.

Mercifully alone, he belted himself into one of the plush leather armchairs. He accepted the Coke the flight attendant brought him. She was subdued and merely smiled at his thanks, so the pilot must have talked to her. Edward vowed to give him a bonus on his next paycheck. He closed his eyes and clenched at the arms of the chair as the plane began to taxi to the runway. Statistically, he knew, most plane crashes occurred during take-off or landing and so he was always nervous during those times. He didn't lose that tension until the plane leveled off and the pilot used the intercom to say, "Mr. Cullen, you can use electronics now."

He fished out his laptop and turned it on and went straight to the internet browser where he typed in two words: "Catalupa archaeology". In just a few seconds, he had his answers.

..

_**Archaeologists Find Evidence of Ancient Advanced Culture in Catalupa**_

_Archaeologists digging in the forests of Catalupa have found an elaborate temple complex, the first ever discovered in the area._

_"We knew the ancient Catalupan people were advanced," says Lauren Mallory, head of the Austlyn University archaeology program, whose researchers uncovered the monument. "There was artistic evidence for temples such as these, but we had never located one, but now the ancient Catalupans can take their place among the Incans and Aztecs and Mayans as master builders."_

_Mallory says that locating the tomb was the work of a dedicated team of Austlyn University researchers who pored over satellite images and topographic maps until a likely site was located ..._

..

Edward felt indignant on Jacob's behalf. Jacob had no support for his theory that Catalupan monuments existed, undiscovered. There was no "team" which worked on locating a possible building site; it had been Jacob alone who'd studied images and maps endlessly, late at night, after he'd finished teaching for the day.

The university had refused funding for the dig when Jacob had located a likely site, and so Edward had paid for it. Neither of them had expected the first dig to be a success. After all, field archaeology more often than not involved sifting massive piles of dirt to try to find tiny shards of pottery or flint chips. Jacob had hoped to find a start, to find some clues which might lead him to a more promising site in the future. What he had uncovered was a once-in-a-generation find, something that every archaeologist might dream of, but would never actually experience.

He'd called Edward to tell him the news, speaking so fast in his excitement that Edward could barely make out what he was saying over the crackling connection. The temple was small, pyramidal, and beautifully preserved by the jungle vegetation that had grown over it. He'd sent Edward reams of photographs to get his opinion on the texts and images carved on the steps as the diggers uncovered them one by one. It appeared to be a temple dedicated to the worship of the Dark Goddess, a religion about which little was known, but there was much speculation.

They'd spent the last six weeks clearing the site of the rubble and now were ready to enter the actual temple itself. Jacob was convinced that there was also a tomb located inside the building, but the archaeology department had dismissed that idea out of hand. If the preliminary findings were correct and the structure was a temple with living quarters for the priests, the Catalupan death taboos would have precluded a burial on site.

Jacob was undeterred. He'd proven the experts wrong once and he'd do it again. His translation of the carvings on the outer walls (a translation not universally accepted) was that this was the worship and burial site of the Dark Goddess. The problem lay in the fact that the world for "burial" in the Catalupan language was the same as "sleeping place." Everyone other than Jacob (including Edward himself, though he'd never hurt Jacob by telling him that) thought it meant that the Dark Goddess dwelt in the complex, though whether she had been an actual person worshiped as the incarnation of the Goddess, a statue, or a spirit, none of them knew as of yet.

And now, after her scathing denunciations of Jacob's search as a waste of time, Lauren had swooped in and taken the credit. Poor Jacob had to be livid. Edward didn't know what Jacob thought he could do. He could threaten to pull his funding, but now that Jacob had something interesting to show for his work, the university would gladly fund the rest of the excavations.

The next article was from a local Catalupan newspaper. Edward read it in its original Spanish and learned that Catalupan officials were now claiming that "the archaeologists" (that strange plural again) hadn't secured proper permission to dig. They'd been granted permission to dig in the soil, the article noted, not to excavate any buildings. Edward brightened slightly. Here, at least, was a problem he might be able to solve. He'd had experience with politicians before and bribes worked more often than not.

He would do whatever he could, pay whatever the price may be, because Jacob was his best friend. His only friend.

* * *

><p>Jacob was in his hut, signing paperwork when Lauren tapped on the door and entered before he could give permission. That was just her personality, he seethed, barging in wherever she liked, whether she was wanted or not. Since the university officials, headed by Lauren, had descended on his find, he had been ordered to stop digging, both by the university - who wanted more conservationists on site - and by the government officials of Catalupa, who were alarmed at the media attention and the significance of the find itself.<p>

Jacob was pretty pissed off by the implication of the university that he didn't know what he was doing. Despite his carefree and somewhat reckless personal life, he was very careful about his work. No one had ever had cause for complaints in that area, and many of the "conservationists" they were sending down were empty suits and people like Lauren, who had never grubbed in the dirt of an actual dig.

"Helloooo," Lauren cooed and leaned back against the door after she closed it. She'd been wearing a long-sleeved light cotton shirt over a tank-top today, but now the long-sleeved shirt had been removed and was tied around her waist. She wasn't wearing a bra.

"How are you, Jake?" she asked with a small smile.

"Since before, or after, you stole credit for my discovery?"

"I didn't steal anything," Lauren countered. "You're an employee of the university, Jacob. You used our resources for your research. As such, anything you discover is considered a 'work product' and belongs to the university."

"You fucking _lied_," Jacob said. "That's what gets me the most. There was no goddamn 'team'. It was just me and all of you fuckers said I was wasting my time and now that it turns out I was right, you're shoving me out of the way to preen in front of the cameras."

She stood up straight and strolled the few feet over to where he sat at his little table, her hips swaying. She leaned down, giving him a clear view down her tank top if he cared to look (which he didn't). "I suppose I could be … convinced … to mention your name in my next interview."

"That's not the point, and you know it." He shoved back his chair, away from her, and took a swallow from the bottle of beer he had on the table. "I should be the one to open that temple, but it seems now that you have bigger problems than just me. The Catalupans are now trying to revoke my dig permits, so you could lose the whole ball of wax."

She shrugged. "I'm sure the university will work out something with them. They're just afraid they're going to lose control of a major find." She traced a finger along his jaw and he jerked away.

"Knock it off, Lauren. It's over."

"It doesn't have to be."

"Yeah, it does. I told you from the outset, it was a one-time thing. You promised you wouldn't do this."

"I didn't realize how good we'd be together," she said. She dropped her voice into what she must have thought was a sexy tone. "God, Jake, you were the best I've ever had and I can't wait to have more." She tried to perch herself on his lap and he stood, nearly knocking her off her feet.

"I said _no_, Lauren."

Her expression turned from salacious to scalded. She glared at him. "What the fuck is your _problem_?"

"As of this moment, _you_," he said bluntly. "I don't like you, Lauren."

Trembling with fury, she whirled and slammed out of his trailer. He figured he hadn't done himself any favors there, but this was why he had the rule that he did, a rule which he made absolutely clear to all of his partners: He never slept with any woman more than once. It was supposed to cut down on the possibility of attachments being formed. He had known, even at the time, that fucking Lauren was a mistake, but he'd been drunk and she'd been persistent and all of his scruples had gone out the window when she unveiled those magnificent breasts of hers.

He drank more of the beer and rubbed his temples. God, he wished Edward was here. Edward always had excellent advice about these sort of situations, even though he was completely socially inept himself.

He remembered the first day they'd met. Both of them, six years old, starting first grade in a new school. Edward had spoken to no one his first week there, and Jake had felt an almost instant affinity with the lonely and silent red-haired boy. He recognized in Edward the same skittish traits as the feral cat that lived in their tool shed. His grandfather, who still lived back on the reservation, had taught him that if a creature was afraid of people, you had to get them used to humans by sitting near them quietly and slowly working up to interaction. Jacob's desk was beside Edward's and every day he chose a spot next to him at lunch as well. A week later, Edward had offered him a cookie from his lunch box, and after that, it was easy being his friend.

Jacob discovered quickly that Esme Cullen hated him, though she was far too polite and ladylike to ever overtly display it. Jacob, as sensitive as he was, picked up on subtle cues. He was in no way good enough to be friends with her precious son. Jacob was poor. His family lived in Section Eight housing. His clothes were ragged and often dirty and, as time passed, he grew out of them faster than they were replaced. His father was a habitual drunk who had lived on disability since a DWI accident had crippled him, and his mother was loud and crass. His older brother, Emmett, was constantly being arrested and spent more time in jail than out of it, and his sister, Alice, had two kids before she had dropped out of high school.

He knew that Esme had hoped that Edward would outgrow his friendship with Jacob and by high school, would begin to prefer the more affluent, popular kids. Sometimes, Esme Cullen could be very blind where her son was concerned. Esme's dismay and concern for her son had grown exponentially after her husband had died. She had focused all of her energy into trying to nudge him into being the Cullen prince he should be by setting him up on dates, and sending him to parties he didn't want to attend. She was convinced that his shyness was something he could get over if he just _tried._

God knows, he succeeded at everything else he tried. As it turned out, Edward Cullen was brilliant. Not just a bright kid, but one of those rare geniuses that comes along to grace humanity once or twice a century. Part of his social ineptitude was that his mind was rarely on the present. He would be doing differential equations in his head and fail to notice that a girl was flirting with him.

He could have graduated much earlier, but he refused to be skipped ahead. And when it came time for college, he had his choice of Harvard, Yale, Stanford … and decided to go to the University of Austlyn where Jacob had been accepted. It was a good school, quite respectable in academic circles, but it was an odd a choice to those who knew his brilliance as deciding to go to community college.

He and Jake shared a little apartment near campus, paid for by Edward, who'd gained access to the trust fund set up by his grandfather at age eighteen. They were probably the only guys in school who had their own maid, but it was a requirement for them because Jake was a total slob and Edward rarely noticed his surroundings long enough to know if they were clean or not.

It was an arrangement which worked out well for the both of them. Edward needed Jake to remind him to eat, to go to class, to check to make sure his socks matched and his shirt didn't clash with his pants. (Edward was completely color-blind.) And he needed someone to smooth things over with the landlord when he did things like cover the walls with equations written in Sharpie because he couldn't find a piece of paper.

Jake needed Edward's patient tutoring to help him through some of his classes and to keep him grounded. Without Edward's help in the academic sphere, and later, his monetary assistance when Jake's loans didn't fully cover his costs, Jacob would have never realized his dream to become an archaeologist. He had no idea how much money he had borrowed from Edward over the years. Edward probably knew down to the last penny, because he had an incredible memory for numbers, even if he couldn't remember mundane things such as to buy groceries, but he refused to divulge it or even consider allowing Jake to repay him. Nor would he allow Jacob to pay for things like the on-a-whim roadtrip Jacob had dragged Edward on to Tijuana to see if the rumors about sex shows were true. To Edward, who had always had it, money was inconsequential. And Jake had sufficient grace to not allow his pride to get in the way.

Jacob did help pull Edward out of his shell on occasion. With Jacob he had gone to his first kegger, drank his first beer, kissed his first girl. Girls loved Edward. Despite his untameable thatch of rusty hair and his jaw that usually bore about three days' worth of scruff, they swooned. Edward rarely noticed, and when he did, his first instinct was to retreat, blushing, stammering. Girls found that charming as well, and he always had a flock of hopefuls circling around his periphery, even after he began to use his engagement to Tanya as a shield.

_Tanya_. Jacob's lip curled just thinking her name. That bitch had completely taken over Edward's life from the moment she set her sights on him. And Edward had let her. She didn't mind that he didn't talk much because she talked constantly. She didn't mind that he was shy, because she was bold and assertive. There was only one area of his life that Edward refused to allow her to rule, and that was his friendship with Jacob. She had won a significant victory (in her eyes) in getting Edward to buy a house just for the two of them, but she could not erase Jake entirely from her fiance's life, try though she may.

One small comfort was that Esme seemed to hate Tanya even more than she hated Jacob. Jacob had learned manners from his association with Edward, and thus had become marginally more acceptable in her eyes over the years. Tanya was of the strong opinion that people should accept her just as she was.

Jacob finished the beer and tossed the bottle into his recycling bin. Edward would be here, soon. He would know what to do about the permits and how to get his discovery back from Lauren's greedy clutches. It was his temple, and he'd be damned if anyone else would open it but himself after all of the hard work and persistence when everyone else said he was a fool. Everyone but Edward, that is.

* * *

><p>Edward had never been to Catalupa, and he had imagined rather primitive conditions. Instead, his plane landed in the thriving capital city and he was driven in a limo down well-maintained highways. Only when they neared the site itself, which was in a rural farming region, was he transferred, along with a pair of waiting archaeologists, to an all-terrain vehicle and driven out across fields to a large wooded area, which had a new road cut through it, to the dig site itself.<p>

Edward had escaped having to speak to his companions by simply pretending not to know Spanish. The Catalupan archaeologists spoke freely in front of him, believing themselves to be protected by the language barrier. They were resentful that the greatest archaeological find in Catalupan history had been uncovered by a foreigner. All of them said they would have found it themselves, had their respective universities given them the funds to do so. They seemed to be under the impression that Jacob had more or less stumbled onto the find.

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived in the camp. Edward was impressed with how neat and orderly it was, considering that Jacob was usually neither when it came to his living arrangements. There was a collection of pre-fab huts in a circle, with large tents forming a second ring around them and a row of open-air tents where workers sifted soil that had been removed from the dig site. Anything that didn't pass through the one centimeter squares of the wire mesh of the sifters was checked to see if it bore signs of having been worked or made by human hands.

"Edward!" Jake came out of one of the tents, where he had been helping with the sifting. Unlike some archaeologists in academia, he still enjoyed doing the "grunt work." He wore a filthy white "wifebeater" and khakis over combat boots. His heavily muscled, tanned and tattooed arms drew many an admiring female glance as he passed. Jacob grinned and hugged Edward. "How are you, man? How was the trip?"

Edward felt eyes from all over the campsite on them. "I'm fine. Trip was fine."

"Verbose as ever, buddy. Come on, we'll go to my hut. I have air conditioning." Edward followed him, shifting his bags to his other arm. Inside the hut, it was mercifully cool. He sat down in one of the chairs by the document-covered table and sighed in relief. He accepted the bottle of water that Jacob retrieved from the refrigerator and took a long drink. "Thank you."

"Welcome." Jacob had a beer and he twisted off the cap which he threw indifferently over his shoulder. "What happened to your cheek?"

"Nothing."

"Mm. About five foot four and a hundred twenty pounds of '_nothing_'?"

Edward ignored that. "I've been reading about your … difficulties and I'm going to be honest, Jake. I don't think that there's much I can do. The more attention this gets from the international media, the harder it gets."

Before Jacob could respond, a woman tapped on the door and simultaneously came through it. Her light colored eyes bulged like a pug's, which gave her a perpetually surprised look. Edward recognized her from the faculty catalog, and he may have seen her once or twice at those awful Christmas parties that Tanya dragged him to every year, but he had never spoken to her.

"Helloooo," she purred, stretching the word until she ran out of air. She eyed Edward from head to toe without even attempting to be subtle. "Dr. Edward Cullen. I've always wanted to meet you. Jake, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Lauren, Edward. Edward, Lauren." Jake took another swig of his beer. "He doesn't use the 'doctor'."

Lauren flashed him an ugly look and then smiled at Edward. "Aren't you the one who finally translated the ancient Catalupan language?"

"Yes," Edward said.

She waited, but he didn't elaborate. "But I thought you were over in the physics department."

Edward shifted uncomfortably. He was listed in the faculty guide as a professor, but he had never taught a class, and everyone who worked for the university had to know by now the way he floated from department to department as the mood struck him. The university certainly didn't mind, because he always came up with something remarkable in each discipline he pursued until something else caught his attention.

Jake stepped in. "Yes, he's in the physics department. Technically."

Lauren didn't even acknowledge him. "How in the world did you do it?" she asked. "From physics to linguistics ... that has to be a very large leap."

Edward's face burned. He didn't say anything.

"Well, thanks for stopping by," Jacob said. "I'm sure you have lots to do now that you've taken over the dig. We won't keep you."

"Really, Edward," she pushed. "How did you figure it out?"

Jacob sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's like any other code, Lauren. Searching for patterns, determining the value of integers. He worked at it like it was a math problem."

"Ooh. That's soooo clever." Lauren giggled and peered up at Edward from under her lashes, but he wasn't looking at her.

"Yep, very clever. Thanks for stopping by, Lauren." Jacob got up and bulldozed her toward the door. "Bye-bye now."

"Please, Edward, do stop by and see me before you leave." Lauren cast him a smile over her shoulder and Jacob shut the door in her face. He sank back down into his chair and ran the bottom rim of his beer bottle around the table. "She told me this morning that they're sending me home."

"What? You're kidding!"

"I wish to fuck I were."

"What happened?"

Jake picked at the label on his beer bottle. "Officially? They want me back home to teach a class this summer since one of the instructors is off on maternity leave. Unofficially, it's because Mallory wanted a second roll in the hay and I turned her down. And … well, you know me. I was pissed and so I wasn't exactly nice about it."

"Can you apologize?"

"Won't help."

Edward sighed. He drank down the rest of his water and tossed the bottle into Jake's recycling bin. "I'm wracking my brain and I can't figure out a way to get your dig back, Jacob. I'm sorry."

"I know," Jacob said. "I know I'm not going to get it back now, but there's one thing they're not going to take from me."

"What's that?"

Jacob met Edward's eyes. "I'm going to be the first one to go inside. Tonight, you and I are going in."

* * *

><p>In the realm of bad ideas, Edward ranked this one up there with Napoleon going to the Battle of Waterloo and Edison's insistence on direct current. So, why was he here, following Jacob into the unknown? Because there was no talking Jake out of this idea and he couldn't let Jake go alone.<p>

"I'll be Howard Carter and you can be Lord Canarvon," Jake had said. Lord Canarvon and Carter had entered King Tutankhamun's burial chamber before it had been "officially" opened, hiding the entrance hole behind a basket in the photos taken of the antechamber.

"This is crazy," Edward muttered.

Jake grinned up at him. "I know!"

They crept down the stone steps to the doors. A chain and padlock bound them shut. Jake had given Lauren the keys she'd demanded when she came to tell him that he was being sent back home. She didn't know that the padlock came from a set of two, meaning that Jacob had another set of keys that fit both locks.

"Think they'll send us to the same prison?" Edward asked, morose.

"Don't worry. We're not going to get caught."

"Do you realize that every single time you've ever said that to me, we've been caught?"

"Every time, huh? Well, there's bound to be an exception at some point." Jacob dug into his backpack and handed Edward a Maglite flashlight. "Besides, I'm not technically breaking any laws. The permits haven't been officially revoked, and Lauren hasn't even announced I'm leaving yet. I'm breaking a shit-load of ethical codes and they'll probably fire me if I get caught, but we won't go to prison." He glanced down at the illuminated face of his watch. Fifty-five minutes left. The guard he had bribed would return then and they had to be gone, and have removed any trace of their presence.

Edward shone his light around in the empty chamber beyond the door. "Jesus, Jake,_ look_ ..." There was a painting on the wall that represented the Dark Goddess, drinking the blood sacrifices of the worshipers who danced around her. The paint was as smooth as if it had been applied yesterday. Edward wished he could see the colors, but to him, it was in shades of gray, from light to dark. The Dark Goddess was represented by a pale-skinned woman with long dark hair. On the opposite wall, she held up her hands and rain fell. She stood on the broken bodies that represented enemies and plants grew all around her. The artistic stylization indicated a connection to the Incan -

"Come on, Edward," Jake urged. Edward swung his light away. He could have stood all night analyzing the various aspects of those two pieces of art. They walked down a narrow stone hall, their shoes crunching in grit on the floors. Plaster, maybe, from similar paintings which had once adorned these walls, crumbled to dust. They carefully walked down the center of the hall, trying to avoid pulverizing any more of it.

"Holy shit," Jake blurted.

"What?"

"Look!" Jake shone his light into the corner and Edward saw a pile of skeletons there. Scraps of cloth, glints of metal, bits of jewelry.

"Priests?" Edward's voice was filled with awe. To find a sit undisturbed like this, as if the last people to visit had simply walked out and locked the door behind them, was unheard of. Even Tut's tomb had been looted a couple of times before it was found by Carter.

"Possibly." Jake swung his light around the room and they both gasped. The altar remained, the sacrifice bowl on the top. There were pieces of jewelry laid on top of it, covered in a soft gray film of dust. Offerings to the Goddess?

Edward spotted something and walked around to the back of the altar. One of the paving stones had been moved aside slightly and there was an empty, dark gap below. "Jacob, come over here."

"What the _fuck_?" Jacob breathed. He looked up at Edward in awe. "I was right. I was fucking _right_! There _is_ a tomb here. Even if it's only ceremonial -"

Edward knelt down and pulled the stone aside, too eager and curious to care any more that they were disturbing the site. Another staircase, though steeper and narrower, lay below. They cleared enough blocks to squeeze through and hurried down into the tomb below. Cool air rushed up at them, carrying a scent of … spices? Something delicious.

"Smells like the spice aisle at the grocery store," Jacob commented. Edward couldn't remember if he'd ever been in a grocery store spice aisle, so he couldn't corroborate that statement.

"It smells …" Edward inhaled deeply. "... _addicting_." It was the kind of scent your nose craved, a scent that would cause you to linger, just so you could enjoy it a little longer.

At the bottom of the stairs, they entered a room covered in brilliant paintings. Jacob groaned with joy when he saw the chests and cushions and vases and bowls and all sorts of things scattered through the room, as though the occupant had just left. Offerings? Furnishings? Not enough was known about the lifestyle of the ancient Catalupans to say. Certainly, these were things that had never been seen before, things that would add immense wealth to their store of knowledge about the people and their culture.

In the center of the room, there was a carved stone … rectangle. Edward walked up to it slowly and examined it from all four sides. "Jake, what do you suppose this thing is?"

Jacob approached it and added his light to Edward's. "It's a sarcophagus," he whispered. "I know it is. I can't believe it. Fuck me, I can't _believe_ it!" He traced his fingers over the carvings and a look of determination crossed his face as he swung his bag off his shoulder.

"Jake, what are you doing?"

"I'm opening it."

"No, no way." Edward extended a hand to grip the bag. "Jacob, stop and think for a moment. We don't know what's inside, what condition it's in. Exposing it to air - "

Jacob's jaw clenched. "I'm opening it. I have to. I can't leave without knowing if I was right."

"You can't use a crowbar on this, Jake, it's just wrong. You're an archaeologist, for Christ's sake, not Indiana Jones!"

Jacob whipped off his t-shirt and wrapped the end of the crowbar to avoid chipping or scratching the stone. He wedged the crowbar into the rim under the lid at the narrow end and shoved. The lid lifted slightly with a puff of air, scented luxuriantly with that rich, spicy smell. Edward filled his lungs and bent to help Jake slide the lid down safely. Like entering the temple itself, if he couldn't talk Jake out of it, he'd do all he could to lessen the consequences. They slid it down a few feet and then shone their lights inside.

"Holy fucking moley," Jacob said mildly.

"I .. can't … believe …" Edward gaped in shock.

A perfectly preserved woman's body lay within. She was pale as paper, but otherwise looked as though she were sleeping. A dark crown of dark feathers adorned her head and large, carved stone disks dangled from her ears. Her pale face was so incredibly perfect that neither of them could look away from it. Absolutely symmetrical, Edward noted. Her eyes were almond shaped and tilted up slightly at the corners. Her nose was perfectly straight with a narrow bridge that widened slightly over full, soft-looking lips. She wore a wrapped gown in a pale shade, fastened with ornamental carved stone pins at the side.

"So … _beautiful_ …" Edward breathed. He reached out and touched her cheek.

The woman opened her eyes.

Edward dropped his flashlight and stumbled back in shock. He and Jacob both screamed but Jacob never got a chance to retreat. The woman was up and out of the sarcophagus in a flash and she had bent Jacob back like they were dancing and she had swung him down into a dip. Her face was buried in his neck.

Jacob let out a strangled cry and tried to push her away. Edward leapt up from the floor and grabbed his Maglite. Artifact or not, he was going to bash the fuck out of that woman if she didn't release his friend. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled, but it was like trying to pull a building. Wincing, for he had never hit a woman before, Edward brought the flashlight down on the back of her head. Her feather crown cracked and fell to the floor, releasing a cascade of dark hair.

She thrust out an arm and struck Edward in the center of the chest. He went sprawling back against the stone floor. She released Jacob and he crumpled to the ground, his eyes wide and staring as he gasped and floundered like a fish out of water.

The woman was on top of Edward in a flash. He felt a blinding pain in the side of his throat and then, incredibly, agonizing _pleasure_ and he couldn't even scream as everything went black.

..

* * *

><p>AN: I probably won't be able to update every day like I used to. I'm also writing for publication and it doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day. I'll have something up at least once a week, possibly twice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

~.~

Jacob heard the echoes of a woman's sobs.

_Alice. Alice is crying._

She was crying because she'd found out she was pregnant again and Riley was furious at her for it. He demanded a paternity test and said she'd have to take him to court to get child support.

"Don't worry, Allie," he murmured. "I'll help you." He'd gotten a second job that summer to help pay for -

He opened his eyes and realized it wasn't Alice who was crying and he was far away from home, indeed. He and Edward were alone in the tomb, which was dimly illuminated by their dropped flashlights. Edward hadn't moved from the spot where the woman dropped him. Jacob tried to get to his feet, but dizziness overwhelmed him. He crawled slowly, on his hands and knees, over to Edward and felt his neck for a pulse.

_Oh, thank God_. Relief further weakened him, until he almost collapsed. _Thank God. _Edward was alive, and oddly, the side of his neck seemed unwounded. Jacob felt his own neck, the place where he had felt the woman bite down and found it perfectly intact. If it wasn't for the few drops of blood on his shoulder, he would have thought he imagined it.

"Edward." Jacob spoke as loudly as he dared. He shook him gently. "Edward, wake up."

Edward groaned and he opened his eyes as with an effort. "Wha' hap'n?" he muttered. Jake helped him to sit up and Edward clutched the sides of his head as though to keep it from spinning. He blinked several times and gazed around the empty burial chamber. "What _was_ ... that thing?"

"The Dark Goddess," Jacob said softly. Edward shook his head, as though to clear it.

They helped each other to their feet, shaky and swaying for balance. Jacob picked up their flashlights and handed one to Edward. He eyed the stairs with some trepidation. He could still hear sobs coming from the room above. He glanced back at Edward, but Edward was staring at his neck. "Yeah, no bite marks on you, either."

Edward clapped a hand to his throat and pulled it away as if he expected to see blood. "But I _saw -" _ He pointed at the blood droplets right below Jacob's shoulder and shook his head. "None of this makes sense."

Jacob retrieved his t-shirt from the floor and pulled it on. He wondered if Edward had felt the same thing he did when the woman bit into his neck: white-hot pain and then pleasure so intense he couldn't begin to describe it. Jacob had experimented with drugs over the years, and nothing he had ever taken gave him that kind of a high. He imagined he had passed out simply from the intensity of it, his brain shorting out like an over-loaded fuse.

"There's no other way out. We've got to go up there." Edward said it probably more to convince himself than Jacob. Slowly, they both ascended the stairs. Edward ducked around Jacob to go first through the narrow opening they had uncovered. Neither of them was much of a fighter, but Edward had taken karate classes, one of Esme's failed attempts at increasing her son's confidence.

They slipped through the opening and ducked behind the altar, though the light from their flashlights had to announce their presence. Both of them peeked simultaneously around the edge. The woman from the sarcophagus - the Dark Goddess - was seated on the floor by the skeletons, sobbing as though her heart was broken. Jacob couldn't help but notice that the slit on the side of her light green gown had opened nearly to her hip, revealing a long and shapely leg. Her feet were bare and she had a thick gold bracelet around one of her dainty ankles. Her dark brown hair spilled over her back and shoulders and it was long enough to drag in the dust on the floor beneath her.

"What should we do?" Edward hissed. "Make a run for it?"

Jacob shook his head. "I can't go. I've got to find out who she is."

Edward stared at Jacob as though he'd sprouted a second head. "She _attacked_ us."

The woman turned her head and looked them. Her inhumanely beautiful face was soft and vulnerable, streaked with tears - _pink_ tears - as she gazed at them. She seemed afraid. Afraid of _them_?

Jacob loved women. He loved everything about them. Their soft hair and softer skin, the way they smelled, their smiles, the mysterious workings of their minds. But that adoration of the female sex also created a weakness within him, the reason why he refused to form attachments: he could not stand to see a woman in tears. It broke him down, made him desperate to do anything to make them stop.

He rose to his feet, still a little shaky and weak, and held the edge of the altar for balance as he took his first slow and cautious steps toward her. "Hello," he said softly. "Please don't cry."

She looked away from him, back down to the skeletons on the floor. She reached out to touch a gold cuff bracelet. Jacob realized, as he took a deep breath, that the intoxicating, spicy scent in the tomb had come from her.

"I'm Jacob. This is Edward. Who are you?"

She didn't look at him or reply. Her finger stroked the gold cuff, rubbing off the dust of centuries.

"It had to be a prank of some kind," Edward decided. "Lauren must have known you'd do this and so she set it up for this woman to get inside the empty sarcophagus and scare the hell out of us."

"And _bite_ us?"

"Pressure points. To knock us out. For ... uh ... some reason."

Jacob shook his head. "Mallory isn't that clever and as far as I know, completely lacks a sense of humor. Whatever this is, it's not her doing."

"What's the alternative? That she's actually a Goddess?"

"I don't know," Jake said. "But I intend to find out." He slowly approached her and crouched down a few feet away, giving her distance so that she wouldn't feel crowded. She looked up at him warily.

"I'm Jacob."

She just stared at him.

"Um..._ Habla Español_?" Jacob didn't speak Spanish himself, but it seemed a good place to start.

She blinked.

"Edward, say something to her in ancient Catalupan."

"Just because I can _read_ it doesn't mean I can _speak_ it," Edward said, with some irritation in his tone. "No one has any idea how the words were pronounced or where the accents should be placed."

"Try."

Edward rattled off something. The woman didn't react.

Jacob let out a frustrated huff. "Okay, let's try this again." He pointed to himself. "Jacob. _Jay-cub_." He pointed at Edward and said his name slowly, enunciating each syllable carefully. Then he pointed at the woman and gave her a coaxing look.

She said something that had a lot of strange consonant combinations, and sharp vowels. The last syllable sounded like "-bela," and so he repeated it. "Bella? Is that okay? Can I call you _Bella_?"

She hesitated and then said it herself. "Bella." She didn't nod or shake her head, and he was unsure those motions would carry the same cultural meaning anyway.

"Good. Now we're getting somewhere. Jacob. Jaaay- cub."

After a moment, she attempted to repeat it. "Shay-kod."

"Jay-cub."

"Shaykob."

"Close enough," he said cheerfully. He pointed over at Edward and said his name slowly. She mangled it on her first try and was only marginally better the second.

"Ed?" she asked.

Edward grimaced. He hated any truncation of his name, but he nodded.

Bella looked down at the skeletons and said something. Her voice was soft and melodious, and the language she spoke was dense and complex. Jacob glanced over at Edward, who was listening intently. "Are you getting any of this?"

"Not a word," Edward replied with a shake of his head. "I couldn't even tell you if it's Catalupan or not. All I can say is that it's something I've never heard."

Jacob had an idea. He hadn't learned much of the ancient Catalupan language yet but he did know a few words. He drew the symbols that meant "Dark Goddess" in the dust in front of her. She just stared at it.

"She can't read," Edward said. "I had suspected that Catalupan literacy was restricted to the priesthood and now - "

"Save the anthropology for later, _Ed_. We've got to figure out what to do." Jacob lifted his wrist and checked his watch. An hour and a half had elapsed. He grimaced. Not good.

Bella took hold of his wrist and pulled it toward herself, nearly yanking Jacob off balance in the process. She stared down at the little disc with the glowing hands and poked a curious finger at it. Jacob removed it and handed it to her and she released his arm. He stood, watching as she turned it this way and that, rubbing her finger over the face as though glass were a mystery to her. And maybe it was. She held it up to her ear as if she could hear the silent gears ticking inside.

"What do you mean, figure out what to do? We get out of here as quickly as possible and pray to God we're not seen in the process."

"What about her? We can't just _leave_ her here."

"Why not?"

"Because ..." Jacob faltered for a moment. "Because it's not right. She's obviously ... confused. She needs our help."

Edward considered for a moment and he looked as though he might be on the verge of deciding Jacob was right when they heard a bang and shouting voices. Flashlight beams bounced off the walls of the hall.

"Oh, fuck," Jacob said. He looked over at Edward, hoping he might pull out one of his genius ideas at the moment but Edward merely spread his hands and looked back at Jacob helplessly. Bella glanced back and forth between them, and saw the panic on their faces. She stood and took their hands. Her skin was silky soft, but as cool as the stone of the floor. She said something quickly and tugged them back behind the altar and down the stairs into her tomb.

"We've been down here, honey," Jacob said, even though he knew she couldn't understand him. "There's no way out." They had reached the bottom and Jacob waved his hand to indicate the four solid stone walls around them.

She ignored him. She braced the heels of her hands against her sarcophagus and gave it a shove. The massive block of black basalt made a rumbling, grating sound as it ground across the floor, the protesting, gritty scrape of stone on stone.

Edward dropped his flashlight with a clatter and his mouth slackened in shock. Jacob bent quickly and picked it up. He could almost see the mathematics ticking through Edward's head: the estimated weight of the sarcophagus based on its size and the apparent density of the stone, a massive weight being moved by the tiny woman in front of them. He was seeing an impossibility and he was trying to re-work the numbers in any way which could explain what he was seeing.

Bella stopped pushing when a rectangular hole appeared in the floor. She gestured to them and dropped down through it.

Jacob started after her. "No, Jake, wait!" Edward rasped and grabbed his arm. "We don't know what's down there!"

The flashlight beams and pounding feet had reached the tomb entrance. "Yeah, but we do know what's up there. Come on!" Jacob pulled him along to the edge of the hole. He shone his light inside but couldn't see anything below, only a pool of blackness.

Edward gave him a small, rueful smile. "I don't know why I let you talk me into this shit." And with a shake of his head, he jumped into the hole.

Jacob took a deep breath and followed. Childishly, he closed his eyes as he fell. Cool air rushed past him, the scent of wet stone. A pair of arms caught him. A pair of soft, feminine arms. Her delicious, spicy smell teased his nostrils.

"Uh, thanks," Jacob said. Being held in a woman's arms like a bride being carried over a threshold was a new and unique experience for him. It was especially bizarre considering that he was around twice this woman's size. Bella stood him on his feet with a small smile.

Edward's flashlight beam flicked around, illuminating damp stone walls. The floor they stood upon was packed earth. He felt like he'd just fallen into a European castle's dungeon. Beams of light from above cut through the air, but weren't powerful enough to reach the bottom.

Bella said something. She took their hands again, standing between Jacob and Edward, and started forward. Jacob kept his light pointed to the floor while Edward swung his around to illuminate the space in front of them. Bella's bare feet flashed from under her long skirt as she walked and Jacob caught the glimmer of gold from a ring around one of her toes. They entered a long, low passage, and the flashlight beam glimmered off of water in front of them. Edward stopped his tracks, but she said something coaxing and strode forward, pulling him along behind her.

"No swim," Edward explained. He mimed thrashing around in water, then pinched his nose and waved his hand in the air like he was sinking below the waves. His mother had paid for lessons, a private swim coach, everything she could think of, but Edward Cullen simply wasn't buoyant. He sank like a stone no matter how much he thrashed around.

Bella looked at him like he was an idiot. "Nuuu swuuumb," she repeated, and held her fingers about half an inch apart.

"Oh," Edward said and blushed so hotly that Jacob could see it even in the dim light. "Carry on, then."

The voices behind them receded until the only sounds were their breathing and the splash of their feet in the water.

"Fuck, that's cold," Jacob winced as it seeped inside his combat boots. His voice echoed off the stone walls. He thought of Bella's poor bare feet and scooped her up to carry her. Bella was stiff in his arms for a moment but then relaxed and put her arms up around his neck. He was surprised by how light she felt. She was small, with a delicate bone structure, but still, she couldn't weigh a hundred pounds, if that. The thought flitted through his mind about ancient people being smaller than the people of the modern day because of today's plentiful, high-fat, nutrient rich foods, but he dismissed it. Like Edward, he wasn't yet willing or able to accept the impossible, but it was slowly creeping up on him.

Edward examined the walls of the tunnel. "What purpose do you suppose this had?"

"I don't know. Someone put a lot of time and effort into building it, though."

Edward returned the beam of light to the straight ahead and he cursed softly as it revealed the end was blocked by a cave-in. Jacob felt his heart sink. They'd just have to turn around and go back to face the music, he supposed.

Bella made a small sound and wiggled to be put down. Jacob put her on her feet and she made a shooing motion. They both stepped backward in automatic obedience, looking at each other in puzzlement. What was she going to do?

She flicked her hands and the pile of broken stone flew away as if propelled by a silent explosion. They now had an unhindered view of the forest from a small hillside. The stones slammed into nearby trees, toppling a few of them with loud cracks that sounded like gunshots.

"She's telekinetic," Jacob said, as ever, the master of stating the obvious.

"That's impossible," Edward replied automatically. "The laws of physics -"

"Well, it wasn't the laws of physics which just saved our asses. Let's get out of here before someone comes to see what that noise was." Jacob swept Bella back up into his arms because she couldn't run through the woods in her bare feet. Edward followed behind him, running easily and lithely through the trees. (Edward ran several miles a day right after sunrise.)

"Do you know where you're going?" he asked as he vaulted over a fallen log.

Jacob had a good sense of direction. "Yeah. Camp should be right over there." They stopped at the edge of the woods and looked out at the trailers and huts in the clearing. At this pre-dawn hour, the camp should be silent and still, but it was a swarm of activity.

"Now what?" Jacob said.

"We just walk right on in as if nothing happened," Edward suggested. "We'll come in on the opposite side, like we've just returned from town. It's within walking distance, right?"

"A bit on the far side, but yeah." Jake rubbed his chin. He couldn't think of anything better, so they crept through the trees to the side of the camp where the new road cut through the trees. They stepped out into the lane and casually strolled toward the camp, though their hearts pounded and Edward's face looked like a stoplight. Maybe they should cast their eyes around and whistle tunelessly to make the image of exaggerated innocence complete. Jacob kept a tight grip on Bella's hand, hoping like hell she wouldn't decide to pounce on someone else and bite them. He wasn't sure he'd be able to stop her if she did.

Lauren spotted them as they passed the first row of tents. "_There_ you are!" she snapped. "Where the hell have you been?"

"In town."

"Who's she?"

"Um, eh ... er ..." They probably should have worked their story out beforehand.

"Never mind," Lauren gave Bella a scathing glance. "I can _guess._"

Bella narrowed her eyes at the tone and the look. Jacob gripped her shoulder with his free hand and gave it a gentle squeeze that he hoped she would interpret as, "_Please don't eat my boss. At least not right now."_

She glanced at him and relaxed slightly.

"It doesn't matter. The temple has been looted. We're trying to get together a team to go in and assess the damage as quickly as possible."

"Good luck with that," Jacob told her.

Her face fell. "You're not going to help?"

"You told me I'm no longer on this project, remember? You told me you were sending me home. Goodnight." He led Bella to his hut and got them safely inside. He collapsed into one of the chairs with a long sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you, God. I promise I'll never do anything like that again if you just let me get away with it this time."

"Don't lie to the Almighty," Edward said. "It's probably bad karma or something." He remained standing. There was only one chair left and it was improper to take it in the presence of a lady.

The lady in question was examining everything in reach with a look of fascination on her features. There was a little window on the door, the only window in the hut and she poked it with her finger, then scratched at it with her nail. Then, the little lever on the wall caught her attention and she pushed it down, turning off the lights. She lifted it again and jumped at the sudden illumination. She craned her neck up to look at the light.

"Want a beer?" Jacob asked Edward.

"Yes, please." Jacob leaned back in his chair and pulled three beer bottles out of the refrigerator, knocking it closed with his elbow. He twisted the caps off of each and dropped them to the floor. Then, he thought about Bella's bare feet and scooped them up again, depositing them on the table. He handed a beer to Edward and held one out to Bella. "Take it," he urged her. "Take it. It's good." He took a swallow of his own beer in demonstration, then rubbed his stomach. "Mmm. Yummy."

She seemed skeptical, but she took the bottle. She gave the contents a sniff and grimaced. It was the coldness of the bottle which interested her. She turned to the place from which she'd seen him retrieve the bottles and pulled on the handle. She jumped again when the light inside came on and then held out her hands in amazement at the cool air pouring from the box. That's when the air conditioner kicked on. She jumped up on Jacob's chair before he could blink, standing on tiptoe in the small vee of seat between Jacob's legs and held her hands up in front of it. She grinned down at him, an exultant and excited grin, as if the wonders of this new world thrilled her.

He inwardly shook his head. Was it really a "new world" for her? It seemed impossible to believe, but he couldn't explain the things he'd seen tonight. Edward was shaking his head, too. He seemed puzzled and slightly annoyed by it. Edward Cullen did not often come up against questions he could not answer.

Jacob took Bella's hand to gently pull her down from the chair. His thumb was pressed against her wrist and he froze in shock. He felt more carefully. Bella stepped down and eyed him curiously, but did not pull away. Jacob slowly lifted a hand, as not to scare her and placed it against the side of her neck. She glanced at it, but remained still. He pressed his fingers to her carotid artery and then turned to Edward. "I ... er ... don't exactly know how to tell you this, but she doesn't have a pulse."

"What? Of _course_ she has a pulse. Maybe she just has low blood pressure." Edward stepped forward and raised his hand slowly as Jacob had done. She allowed it when he pressed his fingers to the side of her throat. He frowned. Moved his fingers. Blinked. Moved them again.

And then he staggered back and sat down heavily in the chair, his face almost as pale as Bella's. "This can't be," he said. "I - It's just - This isn't _possible._"

Jacob glanced up at the clock. "Five thirty A.M. We've already seen at least six impossible things before breakfast."

"There _has_ to be an explanation," Edward insisted. "We just have to find it."

Jacob leaned against the refrigerator. "Such as?"

"I don't know!" Edward snapped. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be - "

Jacob waved a hand. "Forgotten."

Edward raked a hand through his hair. It stood up in wild tufts and swirls. Jacob had always teased him that Edward was going for the Einstein look, but Esme always caught him and cut it before it could get long enough. She'd kept it very short when he was young in an attempt to contain it, but Edward's hair seemed to determined to defy any effort at taming it. His habit of thrusting his hands through his hair didn't help. Bella noticed it and went over to try to smooth it down. Edward froze as her hands flitted over his scalp, combing it with her fingers.

Jacob was amazed he didn't push her away. He'd never seen Edward allow anyone to touch him like that, at least in front of others. Nor was he brilliant red or stammering. He had a deer-in-the-headlights look, but he didn't move. Jacob felt a strange tingle of alarm deep within but decided to file it away with the dozens of other things he needed to think about later when he had the time.

It didn't take her long to get bored of playing with Edward's stubborn hair, and she moved her attention onward, this time to the papers on the desk. She picked one up and turned it from side to side, as if to try to make sense of the writing. She laid it aside and picked up the sketch he'd made of her temple, ruined, half-buried in vegetation. Her eyes filled with pink tears. She said that long, complicated word, which seemed to be her name and pointed at herself, then at the drawing.

Jacob nodded. "Your temple. We know."

She said something else and pointed at the sky. She snapped her fingers and pointed at the floor.

Jacob glanced at the floor to see what she was pointing at but saw nothing.

She pointed again at the floor, insistently. When Jacob did not do her bidding (whatever that was), she yanked him from his seat and pushed him down onto the carpeted floor, on his knees. She was gentle about it - none of his limbs were broken, anyway - but she was very firm about shoving him into the position she wanted. She smiled when he was in place and patted his head. Then she pointed at the sky again and at herself. She cupped her hands like a bowl and moved them up to his throat, and Jacob thought of the brilliantly vibrant paintings on the temple entrance walls, of worshipers dancing around her, dripping fat drops of blood into a bowl. She splayed and wiggled her fingers as she drew them down through the air.

"You worship her and she'll make it rain," Edward said.

"It's a rainforest," Jake said. "How much more rain do they need?"

"Or maybe the worshipers thought it was a rainforest _because_ of her." Edward buried his hands in his hair again. "Listen to me, talking about this like it's real."

"Can I get up now?" Jacob asked her.

She didn't answer. she had spotted a photograph on the table and was staring at it in awe. She ran a fingertip over the slick surface and then turned it over to look at the back.

He slowly rose to his feet she was still staring at the photo with something like awe on her features.

"What are we going to do with her?" Edward murmured.

"I don't know. I suppose we can decide in the morning. We'll put her back in the bedroom and share the pull-out sofa. That way, she'll have to pass us to get outside."

"Unless she decides to burst through the wall." Edward took a deep gulp of his beer. "Jacob, if this is true ... And I do mean _if_ ... This is the greatest discovery in archaeological history Think of all she could tell us once she learns our language." Edward's eyes sparkled with his brain-lust. "Think of what she's _seen."_

The sun broke over the horizon and a beam spilled through the small window in the door and landed across Bella's arm. She let out a scream of pain and jumped back. She clapped a hand over her arm but not before Jacob had seen the terrible burn left there and the wisps of smoke rising from her flesh, and from the look of sick horror on Edward's face, he had seen it, too. She fled back into the bedroom and Jacob followed her, Edward close on his heels.

Jacob's bed wasn't made, as usual. (He had an ancient _Star Wars_ comforter which Edward might have teased him for if he didn't know about Jacob's financial situation.) All of the linens were wadded up on top of the bed, leaving its frame unobscured. Bella threw herself to the floor and wriggled beneath the bed, even as Jacob clasped one of her slim, shapely ankles and pulled her back out.

"You don't have to go under there," he told her. "See? No windows." He gestured around at the solid walls. "No windows. You're safe. _Safe."  
><em>

"Saayve?" she repeated. She swayed on her feet, and gave several long, sleepy blinks. He glanced down at her arm and noted with astonishment that the wound was already starting to heal.

"Safe," he promised. He moved aside the balled-up comforter and gestured to the bed. She sat down on it. Bounced and looked at the mattress in surprise, but she didn't take time to examine it, which told him how tired she was.

"Sleep," he told her. He pressed his hands together and laid his head on them and closed his eyes.

She nodded and laid down. And then she opened her arms for him to come in and join her.

For the first time in his life, Jacob experienced Edward's speechless stammering and hot blush. He shook his head and backed away. She lost interest and poked at the pillow, as if wondering what it was for. Jacob decided to let her figure that one out herself and retreated from the room and shut the door behind him.

"Oh, sweet Jesus," he muttered and rubbed a hand over his face. Edward, behind him, snickered. Jacob just shook his head and went back to sink down in his chair again. "That was ... unexpected."

"You're her worshiper," Edward said. "Apparently, it's a full-service job."

Jacob snorted and picked up Bella's untouched beer. He took a deep swig. "What are we going to do?"

Edward shook his head slowly. "This is ... I can't ... What the hell _is_ she, Jacob?"

"I dunno," Jacob said, tapping his chin as if deep in thought. "No pulse, drinks blood, sleeps in a sarcophagus, burns in sunlight. Maybe she's a leprechaun."

"This isn't only the greatest archaeological find, it's the greatest _scientific_ find in history. My God, Jacob, think of it. We have found an honest-to-God _vampire_. This is incredible! I'll have to get some samples as soon as possible, blood and tissue so I can run a DNA ... "

"Edward, stop," Jacob said softly. "Think about it, man. We can't reveal that girl to the scientific community so she can spend the rest of her life in some laboratory. That's awful. Think of the experiments they'd do to her."

Edward dropped his head into his hands. "Fuck."

"Yeah. I couldn't do that to a dog, let alone a girl."

Edward groaned and buried his face in his hands. His curiosity was fighting against his conscience.

"I wonder if the Aztecs worshiped a vampire," Jacob said. "Sure would explain a lot, such as Huitzilopochtli needing to replenish his blood every day." He glanced down at his wrist and gulped. "Oh, _fuck ..._"

"What's wrong?"

"My watch. It's gone. I gave it to her to look at while we were in the temple."


	3. Chapter 3

~.~

**Chapter Three**

~.~

The Dark Goddess lay quietly and listened to the two men in the other room babble in that strange, flat and blunt language of theirs. As excited as she'd been exploring the wonders of this new world, now that she lay in here alone in the dark, she had far too much time to think about the one she'd lost.

She didn't understand what had happened. She'd gone into hibernation, but it was only supposed to be for a short while. Her priests were supposed to wake her when her help was needed again.

Something terrible had befallen her people. Her priests were dead, nothing left of them but a pile of dusty bones, and her temple was in ruins. No one had woken her and she had been in hibernation for a very long time, so long that the whole world had changed around her in bewildering ways.

Whomever those men were who had woken her, they weren't priests. But who else would dare to enter her most sacred space? They looked so strange with their bizarre clothing and cropped hair. The taller, dark-haired one looked more like the people she was used to, but the other one was like no one she had ever seen. His skin was almost as pale as hers, so pale that she had thought he was one of her kind at first glance, but his scent was purely human. He had fiery glints in his hair. His eyes were bizarre, as green as forest leaves. But who was he? He had actually dared to strike her while she was drinking from the normal one. She'd found her feather crown on the floor, broken, the symbol of her power and divinity destroyed.

Outside the temple, part of her forest had been cleared for a little village of strange, rectangular houses, amid tree stumps that were still fresh and raw. They must be new settlers in her land. She had seen many strange-looking people as they walked to the house where she was now, including a woman with hair like sunshine and bulging sky-blue eyes who had given her a disrespectful look. She would have beaten the woman for it had the dark-haired man not restrained her. Perhaps the yellow-haired woman was someone of importance who was unaware that a Goddess walked among them. Her pale skin was no longer enough to set her apart and identify her as a deity without her crown.

She was a little frightened, for these people could do greater magic than she: make light come from a tube, or brightly illuminate an entire room at the movement of a lever, and they had boxes that made cold air. She had seen a tiny painting so sharply detailed and realistic that it looked like a thin slice of the world had been cut away, a moment frozen in time.

She rolled over and stared at the ceiling and tried hard not to cry. She was hungry, she was tired, she was confused and she was lonely. Except for when she went into hibernation, she never slept alone. There was always a warm body next to her, to keep hers warm, to protect her during her vulnerable daytime sleep.

She needed to sleep now in order to heal from the sunlight burn, to completely rejuvenate from such a long hibernation. She would have to feed again when she woke, but it didn't appear either of the men were willing to sacrifice to her. Pink tears slid from the corner of her eyes to streak along her temples. Goddesses weren't supposed to be unhappy. When they were, the clouds did not give their rain and ill-fortune befell the people. But the priests who had been dedicated to her, who pampered her, entertained her and made her laugh were gone.

Her whole world was gone.

* * *

><p>Edward woke and it took a few moments for his sleep-addled mind to clear enough to identify the sound: the coughing glurg of the toilet flushing over and over again. Jacob snored on, sprawled across his side of the bed. Edward sat up and rubbed his eyes.<p>

He and Jacob hadn't gone to sleep until early afternoon. Jacob was still worried about the watch. Though they had wracked their brains, neither of them could think of a non-suspicious way of entering the temple with all of the workers there (assuming it hadn't already been found) to remove it.

"Fingerprints," Jacob had said. "That's the only way they could connect it to me for certain." He had handled it before he gave it to Bella, and he could only hope that her fingerprints had covered or obscured his own. (Jacob had to be fingerprinted in order to be bonded for insurance on a few digs, so his were on record.)

"The sooner we get away from here, the better," Edward had replied. But they couldn't take Bella outside while the sun was still shining. They had discussed Jacob's idea of wrapping her in the sheets and comforter to protect her from the sunlight while they transported her, but people tended to notice something like two men carrying a motionless, body-shaped object through the camp. Someone was bound stop them and demand to see what they were moving and might unwrap her in the sunlight. And, if someone unwrapped her in the shade and she proved to be a sound sleeper, they might find themselves accused of murdering her, and poor Bella might find herself waking in a morgue drawer.

The pull-out bed had only about two inches of clearance from the walls on either side, and so Edward slid down to the edge of the bed and stood. His first step landed on the sharp side of one of Jacob's beer bottle caps. With a loud curse, he hopped around on one foot and glared at Jacob, who was still nestled obliviously in the embrace of Morpheus.

He limped to the bathroom, the door of which stood open. He looked down and found the Dark Goddess kneeling beside the toilet, flushing it again and again, delighted in the way the water swirled around her fingers as she splashed her hands around in the bowl.

"_ACK_!" Edward blurted. "No!" Knowing Jacob, he probably hadn't cleaned the thing in the entire six weeks he'd been here.

She looked alarmed and slightly guilty.

"Yucky!" Edward said firmly, making a face of exaggerated disgust. He shook his head vehemently. "No!"

"Ug-ee," Bella agreed solemnly, and hung her head. Edward felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad.

He pulled her up to her feet by grasping under her arms and turned on the water in the sink. That's when he noticed the mirror had been broken. The shards lay in a pile around the sink. _Bella._ He was surprised the noise hadn't woken him, but he'd been exhausted when they finally pulled the bed out of the sofa and laid down to sleep. He imagined how startling it must have been for her to open the door and find her own face staring back at her with a clarity the polished silver and bronze mirrors of her time could never achieve. She had probably lashed out at it in surprise.

He squirted her hands and forearms heavily with antibacterial soap and began to scrub them under the stream of warm water. Fortunately, she found this pleasant and happily rubbed her hands against his, slippery with the soap.

Abruptly, Edward noticed the sensual nature of this caress, the slide of their skin against one another, the way his fingers slid between hers. His face heated, but he continued, and tried to make it clinical. Jake had a small brush for cleaning his fingernails and Edward used that on her, too, and she giggled from the way it tickled. The sound made him smile. He wondered how she'd react to a shower if she enjoyed hand-washing this much, and whether he could help her -

He cut that thought off sternly and dried her hands with a clean towel (the only clean towel Jacob seemed to have left; the rest were moldering in the hamper, apparently awaiting the day that the Laundry Fairy would come to sprinkle them with magic dust and make them clean and folded again).

He led Bella out of the bathroom, but she froze by the refrigerator, because a beam of late afternoon sunlight pooled on the floor in front of it. Edward crossed back through the beam to her side and she smiled at him and laid a hand on his bare chest. He was still wearing his jeans, in which he'd slept, though he'd removed his shirt before retiring. Her eyes danced over his chest and he felt her gaze almost like a brush of silk against his skin. He blushed and her eyes sharpened. She gestured to one of the chairs and he sat down. As tiny as she was, her face was almost on level with his.

She put a hand over her belly and gave him a pained look.

"Hungry, are you?" he asked. "I don't think I can help you there. I'm probably already a quart low from last night."

She held up her fingers and pinched them together until they were only about half an inch apart. _Just a little?_

He didn't say 'no'. His heart beat a little faster and that sharp look in her eyes intensified, as though she could hear it. She approached him slowly, the way that they had approached her last night, until she was standing between his knees. Her gaze was that of a predator, though, strangely, he felt no fear. Her milk chocolate eyes locked on his and a soft, dreamy sensation descended over him. She took his wrist in her hand and lifted it to her mouth. He saw a flash of fangs, but wasn't alarmed. There was no pain as those fangs punctured his flesh, though he felt the skin break beneath them. Then the wave of pleasure hit him and he lolled back in utter bliss. Jesus Christ, what _was_ this? Nothing had ever felt this good._ Nothing._ He didn't want her to ever stop, but she pulled away after only a few swallows. Tenderly, she cupped his cheek and said something softly, a word of thanks perhaps, and her cool lips brushed his forehead. Still dazed by pleasure, he smiled at her. He straightened in his chair and saw that Jacob was awake, watching them. Edward flushed and wondered why he felt slightly guilty.

Jacob sat up and yawned. "I guess that answers my question."

"What question?" His blood still tingled as though carbonated, and everything had a slightly dreamy and distant quality.

Jacob arched his back as he stretched, and Bella eyed his muscled torso appreciatively. "Whether it felt as good to you as it did to me." He gave Edward a little smile. "I've never seen you high before. That was interesting."

Edward flushed a little and said nothing.

"Look: your wrist is already healed."

Edward looked down in surprise and saw that Jacob was right. His mind took flight, thinking about the psychoactive and analgesic properties of her saliva, along with a healing agent. God, if he could synthesize the compound, he could save humanity from a lot of pain and suffering. Molecular structures danced through his mind's eye, connecting, forming bonds ... ligand designs ... He didn't even hear Jacob call his name until the third time. "Mm?"

"We have some decisions we have to make," Jacob said. "First and foremost, where do we go from here? Lauren gave me the boot, and I'm supposed to be on my way back to the US by the weekend. We can't stay here."

Edward scratched his chin. He needed to shave, which he was only reminded to do once his face got itchy. "A hotel in town, I suppose. At least, until we figure out what to do with her." He glanced out the small window and saw that it was sunset, and the last sliver of it was sinking below the horizon.

There was a small closet by the refrigerator. Jacob slid to the bottom of the bed and went over to open it, pulling out a large, battered suitcase which had split at almost every seam and had been coaxed back into structural integrity with generous applications of duct tape. Jacob began to toss his things into it: papers, a single sock, a coffee mug ... "What do you mean, _what to do with her_?"

"This is her homeland, Jacob. We can't just cart her back to the U.S. like a souvenir."

"She can't stay here alone," Jacob countered. "Edward, she doesn't know anything about the modern world. She could get hurt or expose her secret and end up in a lab somewhere. I think we have to take her with us. Once she's acclimated, we can bring her back here if she wants, but we can't just dump her on the street when she doesn't even know the language."

"What do you suggest? That we stuff her into your suitcase? She doesn't have a passport."

"You have a private jet. Do they check when you land?"

Edward nodded. "My pilot files a flight plan, so they know we're coming and a border patrol agent checks the papers of everyone on board."

"Can you ... Do you know the pilot well enough to say how he'd react to being ... well, um ... asked not to say anything about a girl hiding on the plane until the agent is gone?"

Edward shook his head. "I couldn't say. I doubt it. He seems to be an honest sort and I wouldn't want to ask him to lie for me."

"Fuck." Jacob said nothing for a few minutes as he continued to toss things into the case. Bella, watched this process and then began to bring him things she saw lying around the hut: a t-shirt she found hanging from a doorknob, a plate, a plunger, a bottle of beer from the 'fridge (which Jacob promptly opened and drank), his toothbrush ... Jacob accepted each with thanks, putting the items that stayed with the hut on the floor under the table.

Jacob suddenly snapped his fingers. "I know a guy."

"What kind of guy?"

"The kind your mother warned you about. I'll give him a call and see if he can hook us up with someone who can forge some paperwork for her."

Someone tapped at the door and tried to pull it open at the same time, but it was locked. Jacob smirked. He pulled on a t-shirt that Bella had found under the bed and Edward shrugged into his own. They both checked to see that Bella would be out of the path of the waning sunlight before he opened it. "Hello, Lauren."

She pushed her way inside, and the first thing her eyes landed on was the suitcase. "What are you doing?"

"Packing my stuff," Jacob said, as if he spoke to a very young, and not terribly bright, child.

Lauren blinked like she was actually surprised. "I - I changed my mind. I want you to stay."

"No, sorry, I have a class to teach."

Bella came out of the bedroom holding a pair of Jacob's underpants that she'd found on the floor. Lauren gaped at her for a long moment and then her lip curled in a sneer. Bella's eyes narrowed and she snapped her fingers and pointed to the floor.

"Oh, shit!" Edward and Jacob said simultaneously. Jacob spun around, picked up Lauren and carried her out the door.

* * *

><p>"Jacob, what the -?" To say that Lauren was shocked was an understatement.<p>

Jacob put her back on her feet and shut the door behind them. "You do _not_ want to piss that girl off. Trust me."

"Who is she?"

"A friend."

Lauren scoffed.

"What did you want, Lauren?"

Lauren reached into her pocket and pulled out his watch. She held it up, dangling it in front of his face with a smirk twisting her lips. "Missing something? Don't deny it's yours, Jacob. I know that it is."

Jacob forced himself to be calm. He pretended to be happily surprised. "Hey, my watch! Where'd you find that?"

"In the temple."

He gave her a blank look. "How did it get there?"

She tilted her head. "I was thinking you might tell me."

She wasn't falling for it, Jacob realized with a sinking feeling of impending doom. But he had to try. He'd brazened his way out of trouble before. He felt like a quarterback throwing a Hail Mary pass. He shook his head. "I left my door unlocked yesterday and it was gone when I came back."

"Someone stole your watch? Out of your hut? Did they steal anything else?"

"I haven't made a full inventory of my belongings, but I'll do so as I pack and let you know if anything else is missing."

She smiled slowly. "Like a pair of combat boots, which might match up to the footprints in the dust that were found in the temple? The mud floor below that hole in the tomb made _perfect_ impressions. Two men, and a girl with bare feet. Like the girl you were walking with last night, the girl that is still in your hut." Her smile widened as she took in his carefully blank expression. "You know, I hear they can even tell how heavy the man was from the depth of the impressions. Everyone's shoe has a unique wear pattern. Did you know that? Almost as unique as a fingerprint."

Jacob knew when he was defeated. He regarded her for a long moment, his face impassive. "What do you want?"

Her face was luminous in the twilight. "I want you to stay," she said softly. "I know why you went into the temple. You couldn't stand not to see it before you left. I know you didn't steal anything, so that's why I kept quiet when I found the watch. No one has to know ... if you stay. Stay with _me_. We'll work together, Jacob. You'll see how good we could be together as a couple and as a team if you just give us a _chance_."

He nodded. "Okay. Give me a little while to take care of a few things, all right?"

Her eyes softened. "I can't wait." She raised up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his lips. Jacob didn't resist, but he didn't kiss her back, either. She didn't appear to notice, starry eyed and smiling. "Come to my hut when you're done." She gave him a playful swat on the ass as she walked away and Jacob closed his eyes. He waited until she had disappeared behind one of the tents and then dashed inside his hut. "Grab your shit!" he barked to Edward. "We're leaving, right now."

"Why, what's -"

"I'll tell you in the car. We gotta go." Jacob dashed into his bedroom, nearly knocking over Bella, who was emerging with her arms full of toiletries. Jacob snatched them from her and gave her a quick smile before throwing open the two drawers built into the tiny closet, and dumping everything into his case. He tried to zip it, but it wouldn't close. He pushed on it, but he hold it together and pull the zipper at the same time. Bella watched over his shoulder, apparently fascinated by the workings of the metal teeth and slide. He scooped her up and sat her down on top of the suitcase. Perfect. He zipped it closed and then plunked her down on the floor again.

He grabbed the comforter and tossed it over his shoulder as he took her hand and headed for the door. Edward was waiting for them, his two bags in hand. Jacob threw the comforter over Bella's head to protect her in case the last remnants of the light would hurt her. She gave a surprised and somewhat indignant gasp as he picked her up in a fireman's carry, and burst through the door.

People stared as they passed and some pointed at the squirming bundle under the _Star Wars_ blanket. Jacob ignored the shouted questions when people noticed the suitcase. He reached his rental car, an ancient but sturdy Land Rover and opened the back door. He deposited Bella inside and threw his suitcase over the seat.

"Lauren knows everything," he said as he slid into the driver's seat. "We didn't think about footprints."

Edward made a startled sound and smacked his forehead.

"You know, I count on you to think of this shit, Genius Boy."

"I apologize for not being conversant in the inherent forensic pitfalls of tomb robbery," Edward said with exaggerated politeness. He and Jacob exchanged a glance and then burst into laughter, not because it was particularly funny, but because they needed the release of tension.

* * *

><p>"You'd better get in the back with her," Jacob told Edward, who nodded and swung himself inside the back seat of the Land Rover, sliding next to her and gently discouraging her efforts to remove the blanket. Jacob started the engine and she gave a soft cry at the unfamiliar sound and vibration.<p>

"It's okay," Edward told her. He made his voice as soft and calming as he could, but she struggled again when she felt the motion of the vehicle. Edward did the only thing he could think of: he sang to her. He went through the repertoire of slow songs that he remembered, though they were few (Edward didn't particularly care for music.) He ended up singing _Wonderful Tonight_ three times because he couldn't think of anything else after _Landslide _and _Come Monday_. She went still, apparently mesmerized by his voice, even as the Land Rover bounced over ruts and potholes. They reached the road and the ride smoothed out. After one last song, Jacob suggested that she was calm enough for him to remove the blanket. Edward did, slowly.

Bella looked around, a bit of fear in her eyes at the unfamiliar surroundings. The ancient Catalupans hadn't used the wheel for transportation, so she wouldn't even have the experience of an animal-drawn wagon for comparison. Her breath came fast as she watched the scenery whip by outside. Another vehicle passed by them in the opposite lane and she cried out and recoiled away from the door.

"It's okay," Edward told her. "Really. You're safe, Bella."

"Saayve?" She seemed to remember hearing that word last night.

Edward nodded. "Safe."

She looked a little doubtful, but she accepted it. She leaned forward and peeked over the seat to see what Jacob was doing, and in a flash, she had crawled over the seat and began to punch the buttons on the dash. The radio came on, far too loud, and the thrashing rhythms of White Zombie's _Dragula_ filled the car. Bella screeched and punched the button again to silence it. Jacob cast her a little grin. "Perhaps that will teach you not to punch buttons if you don't know what they do."

"I doubt it," Edward said, because she had discovered the button that controlled the window, which she proceeded to put up and down all the way into town. She stuck her head out the window and giggled at the way it whipped her hair around and cupped the wind in her hands. Her fun was infectious and both men were smiling when Jacob stopped the Land Rover in front of a hotel.

Silently, Edward pulled out his wallet and held a credit card over the seat.

"Nah, I got it," Jacob said.

"Save your cash. We may need it." Edward didn't budge. Jacob hesitated for another moment and then took the card. Edward had added him as an authorized signer at one point, in case of emergency.

He exited the vehicle and Bella watched him walk away. "Shaykob?" she asked.

"He's coming back. Don't worry." He leaned up to put his wallet back into his pocket but she plucked it from his hand before he could do so. She opened it upside down and all of the cards and bills fell out into her lap. She giggled and tossed the empty wallet aside, then began to examine the cards. She ran her finger over the raised numbers and then bent it in half between her fingers. Edward repressed a sigh and made a mental note to call Discover for a replacement. She found his driver's license next and peered closely at the picture and then up at him. "Ed!" she announced.

"Yes, that's me."

She pointed at the words. "Ed?"

"No, it actually says _Edward A. M. Cullen_." He traced his fingertip under the words as he read them.

"Ed'urrr," she said carefully. She seemed to have trouble pronouncing sounds and consonant combinations that were not used in her own language. He smiled at her effort. "I'll let you call me 'Ed', honey, if it's easier."

She picked up one of his photos. She looked at it and held it up to him with a question in her eyes.

"That's my mother and father." He thought for a moment, then mimed rocking a baby in his arms. She seemed to understand and went back to gazing at the image. "My dad died when I was in high school. I still miss him."

She pointed at Carlisle. "Ed'urrr."

Edward smiled. "Yeah, I do look like him."

She laid the photo down and picked up one of Tanya. He hadn't known it was there; Tanya must have put it inside at some point. He frowned. He had no idea how to explain that woman or her place in his life. Ex-place, if Tanya had meant what she said. He just shook his head and took it from her. He ripped the photo into pieces and leaned forward to stuff it in one of the fast food bags that littered the floor of the passenger side.

The next item she held up was a condom packet, something that Jacob insisted Edward carry though he'd never had spontaneous sex in his life. She held it aloft and turned it in her fingers. Edward blushed and took it from her and began to refill his wallet. "Nope, not trying to explain that one to you." He imagined the miming involved and chuckled.

She picked up one of the pieces of currency. He glanced at it while he slipped each card into its slot. "That's an American hundred dollar bill. As far as I know, you Catalupans never had a form of currency, so explaining the concept of its representational value to you might be difficult."

She waved it a little and giggled at how it flopped. She pointed to the man's portrait and he said, "Ben Franklin. He's not a friend or anything, though you probably aren't differentiating between my photographs and carrying around that guy's portrait. He's dead." Edward flopped back against the seat limply and stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth as he rolled his eyes upward. He put his arms in front of him with the wrists hanging down loosely. "Dead."

She laughed and he grinned at her. Her laugh was soft and musical and he immediately wanted to hear it again.

"Shaykob!" she announced, and sure enough, he had emerged from the rental office, a keycard packet and receipt in his hand.

"I got us a suite," he said as he slid inside the car. "I slipped the guy a fifty and he registered it under 'Bella Anthony.' That might throw Lauren off our trail for a bit. I rented it for two nights, but I told them we might need more. I don't know how long it will take to get the papers." He handed Edward's credit card back over the seat and Edward put it away.

Jacob drove them around to the back of the hotel and they entered through a side door. Bella was fascinated by the card reader and Jacob had to tug her inside. Edward thought in retrospect that the elevator had been a bad idea; they should have taken the stairs. The sliding doors scared her and she didn't want to go through them and when the elevator began to move, she clutched Edward in a stranglehold and wouldn't let go until they were safely outside, despite the soothing words he choked out.

Jacob unlocked the door and held it open for Bella and Edward. Bella looked around curiously. Jacob went right for the telephone and sat down on the edge of the bed while he dialed. Edward stayed with Bella as she explored. The bathroom was on their immediate left, and she jumped a little when he turned on the light and she was confronted with her reflection. Edward noticed that she avoided looking at it and wondered why, one of the myriad questions he had for her once they had learned enough of one another's languages to communicate.

She pointed to the bathtub and asked him something. When he only shook his head in response, she got inside and laid down and closed her eyes, her hands crossed over her belly, in the same pose he and Jacob had discovered her in when they opened the sarcophagus.

"No," he told her, and helped her up. Seeing her in that pose again was disturbing on some level. "Wash," he said, and mimed rubbing all over his body. When understanding did not dawn, he turned on the water and repeated the motion. She smiled and repeated, "Oo-ash!" then slipped out the top pin from the side of her gown. It fell open, baring her to the waist.

Edward could do nothing but stare.

Admittedly, most of the topless women he had occasion to see had been in photographs and art, but he had traveled the globe, and seen paintings and sculpture in hundreds of museums. Never had he beheld a more perfect pair of breasts. He was mesmerized. No wonder her people had thought she was a goddess. Her body alone was cause for deification.

He saw Bella's hand reaching for the next pin, which finally broke the spell. He put his hand over hers. "No," he said softly. "Uh, that wasn't ... um ... an invitation."

He lifted the soft fabric of her dress (_was she completely nude under it?_)and Bella slipped the jade pin back into place. Was it his imagination, or did she look faintly disappointed? He led her back out into the living room area. She turned the corner at stopped at the small wet bar. She looked at the microwave and tried to touch the illuminated green numbers. She pushed one of the buttons and jerked her hand away when it beeped. She glanced over at Edward and when he didn't stop her, she pressed more of them and smiled at the sound, then compared the symbols on the buttons to that which appeared on the screen.

Her fingers went to the wide button at the bottom, and when she pressed it, the door swung open. She stuck her hand inside and frowned faintly. She glanced over at Edward.

"It's sort of the opposite of the refrigerator," he said. He took one of the foam cups out of its wrapping and turned on the faucet to fill it with water. He took her hand and stuck her finger into it. She looked even more confused. He stuck the cup inside and started the timer. She watched the cup revolve around inside and shook her head slightly, as if in amazement. He took the cup back out and put her finger into the warmed water. Her eyes widened, but something about it troubled her. He wish he knew the cause of the sadness he saw in her eyes. She turned away from the microwave and opened the refrigerator.

"Birrr?" she said.

It took him a moment to understand. "Yes! That's right. Beer goes in there, especially with Jacob around."

She smiled, happy at this small but successful communication. From there, she wandered over to the chest of drawers, upon which a flat-screen television was perched. He felt some trepidation at introducing her to this object. "Maybe later," he told her. Fortunately, it didn't capture her attention for long because she saw the window and went to peek through the curtains.

The outline of the dark buildings, illuminated windows and streetlights amazed her. It was a small town to Edward, but to her, it must be a vast cosmopolis. She whispered something and pressed her palms against the glass. She came from a world lit only by fire and now looked out at tall buildings whose light drowned out the stars. She watched the cars zip by on the highway and that faintly sad expression came over her face again. She sat down on the sofa and dropped her face into her hands.

"Hey," Edward said softly. He knelt in front of her and tugged one of her hands away. Her eyes were still downcast and she bit into her lip. No fangs, he noticed. They must only descend when she was hungry.

"It's okay," he said, squeezing her hand in his own. "I know it must be overwhelming for you right now, but Jacob and I will help you. You're safe, Bella."

"Saayve," she repeated, and a single pink tear rolled down her cheek.

..

* * *

><p>AN: I've put up a question & answer section on my blog: lissabryan (dot) blogspot (dot) com. 


	4. Chapter 4

.

~.~

**Chapter Four**

~.~

"Any luck?" Edward asked when Jacob hung up the phone.

"Maybe. He's gonna call me back tomorrow. Do you remember Jasper Whitlock?"

"Who?"

"Blond guy with dreadlocks. I used to buy weed from him in college. Remember, he pissed you off that time by taking the last Pepsi from the fridge without asking?"

"Oh. Him."

"Yeah, him. He did a couple of years in prison, got religion. It put him on the straight and narrow. Seriously, you wouldn't recognize him now and not just because he chopped off the dreads. Anyway, he called me after he got out and I pulled some strings to get him a job on the university maintenance crew. He owed me a favor."

"So much for the 'straight and narrow'."

Jacob shifted uncomfortably. "He said he'd just have to make a couple of calls to some people he hasn't talked to in a few years. He's not doing it himself, obviously. He's just getting me a contact."

Bella got up from the sofa and went to sprawl on the king sized bed. She looked dejected. Edward followed her and sat down beside her. He stroked her hair and she gave him a timorous smile of gratitude.

"She needs some clothes," Jacob said suddenly.

"We'll go shopping in the morning."

"And make her sleep in that gown again? She's got to be uncomfortable. And shoes. She needs shoes. And ... uh ... you know. Bras and shit."

"Where the hell are we supposed to get a wardrobe this late?"

"Catalupa is a civilized nation," Jacob said. "They have Walmarts. I think you should go."

"_Me_? Why me?"

"You live with a woman. You know the stuff that a woman needs. Like, girly-smelling shower gel and tampons."

"Do vampires menstruate?"

"Like I'd fuckin' know?"

Edward sighed. "I really wish she'd come with an instruction manual."

"We need to measure her," Jacob said, after he had given Edward directions to the store. He pulled out his keyring, upon which, he had an attached tape measure. He patted the edge of the bed and Bella slid down to sit on it. Jacob knelt down before her and gave Bella a wicked grin that made her giggle before slowly sliding his hand down her calf to lift her foot to rest on his thigh. He measured it and called the numbers out to Edward. He then guided Bella to her feet and measured around her waist and then the length from her hip to the floor. When he wrapped the tape around her chest, Edward felt an irrational surge of anger that surprised him. It was made worse by the fact that Jacob kept her giggling with his exaggerated leers.

"Need anything else?" Jacob asked as he let the tape zip back into the case.

"No," Edward said, his voice short and sharp enough to make Jacob glance over at him. "Keys." Jacob tossed them to him and Edward headed for the room door.

He couldn't understand it. He chided himself as he put the Land Rover in reverse and backed it out of the parking space. Jacob had made her laugh to keep her from being upset or offended by being measured. Why should that bother him? It made no sense.

He found the Walmart easily and parked the Land Rover in the center aisle, between the two sets of doors. He went inside and looked around curiously. He'd never been inside of a Walmart before, so this was a new and interesting experience for him. It amused him, for some reason, to see women's clothing only a few steps away from the produce section.

_"Where'd you get that dress, Cindy?"_

"_At Walmart, across from the kumquats."_

"Do you need a cart, sir?" An older woman in a logo-laden vest wheeled one up beside him.

Edward stammered out a thank you and made a hasty getaway. It wasn't until he was at the women's clothing section until it dawned on him that he had replied to her Spanish inquiry in French. He inwardly groaned and debated whether he should go back and apologize, but that would probably only make it worse.

He looked around at the array of choices which suddenly seemed vast and overwhelming. _Great idea, Jake. Send the colorblind guy who can't talk to strangers to buy Bella's clothing. _Bras and underwear were hanging below a sign which read 'Intimates" in Spanish and to the right was "Misses" but how was that any different than "Women's"? He couldn't see any difference. Both were clothes for females.

He decided to try for the bras and underwear first. What sort would Bella like? Tanya preferred embroidered lace and silk sets. Edward didn't see anything like that here. He spun in a circle, dumbfounded.

"Can I help you, sir?" A young girl with dark hair eyed him with suspicion.

Edward forced himself to take a calming breath. He tried very hard not to stammer. His face burned as he blurted, "I need bras and panties."

She arched a brow.

"They're for ... my wife."

The girl suppressed a smile. _Suuure_, her eyes said. "Do you know ..._ her_ ... sizes?"

He managed to choke out, "Thank you. Never mind." He'd figure it out himself.

She watched as he selected a wide array of styles, apparently entertained by his befuddlement. He'd just have to trust that the panties that were on the rack with the bras matched, because be damned if he'd ask.

He got a packet of socks for her, to keep her feet warm, and a pair of bunny slippers he thought she might find amusing. He selected a nightgown for her in a soft, silky material that had a matching robe included and then headed over to the clothing section. Dresses, he thought. She'd probably prefer dresses, though he'd get her some pants for her to try to see if she liked them. He wandered through the section grabbing things here and there that he thought would fit. He'd never been good at picking out pretty clothes, at least Tanya had never thought so. He hoped that Bella would be a little easier to please, since she didn't know what was currently fashionable.

The shoes were easier, at least. He chose a couple of pairs of sandals similar to what he'd seen worn in Catalupan art and a pair of Keds.

Now, on to the toiletries. As he wheeled the cart into the first aisle, he reflected that this was edging into unfamiliar territory. Tanya had a cabinet full of cosmetics, shampoos, and hair products. When she finished getting ready to go out, the counter in the bathroom would be covered with mysterious bottles and jars. She seemed to need the contents of dozens of the things to pull off a "natural" look, and one of them could have been Polyjuice potion, for all he knew.

The basics were easy: a toothbrush and toothpaste and a hair brush, but beyond that, he was starting to get out of his depth. He sniffed bottles of shower gel until his nose was numbed with scent. He finally chose a fruit-scented one, a scent with which she was likely to be familiar, and a shampoo. Did she need conditioner? He supposed so, but what kind? There was around a hundred varieties, each for specific hair problems. He'd had no idea that women's hair misbehaved in so many different ways. He finally selected one for "normal" hair since Bella's hair looked pretty normal to him, but for all he knew, she could be waging constant war against frizz, fading, dullness, lack of volume or split ends.

Once he reached the makeup, he instantly surrendered. He couldn't buy it for her, not without being able to see the color of her skin tone. He didn't think she needed it, anyway, but he did buy her a tube of lip gloss and some lotion. Tanya had once told him that every woman needed moisturizer. Of course, the type that Tanya bought was two hundred dollars an ounce and had some rare orchid extracts in it, or something along those lines.

He bought deodorant and shaving cream, along with women's razors (he could not see how they structurally varied from those deigned for men, but there had to be _something_ different to justify the higher price.) When he reached the sanitary aisle, he froze. Though he lived with a woman, he had no idea which of these items she needed. Tanya kept hers in the bottom of that cabinet of potions and unguents and he had never been interested in poking around in there. He decided to buy one of everything. He'd rather they had it and not need it than not have it and poor Bella lack the ability to tell them.

He wheeled his overflowing cart to a checkout line, and fortunately, the cashier did not try to engage him in small talk as he rang up Edward's purchases. Edward paid and re-loaded the items in their plastic bags into the cart, then headed out to the Land Rover, grateful to make his escape with as little forced human interaction as possible. He packed all the bags into the back seat and wheeled the cart to the metal cage which directed that carts be returned, here. As he walked back to the vehicle, he prayed that he'd gotten her everything she needed because he sure as hell didn't want to repeat this experience any time soon.

He borrowed one of the luggage carts from the hotel lobby to carry up the bags in one trip. As much as he would have disliked having to talk again, he wished that the hotel offered valet and bellhop services as he parked and loaded the cart with all of his purchases. He awkwardly pushed it into the elevator and then wheeled it down the hall to their room door. As he fumbled for the keycard he'd put in his wallet, he heard a sound that chilled his blood: the rhythmic squeak of bedsprings.

He unlocked the door and burst through it. How could Jake seduce that poor, confused girl? As much as he loved his friend, he'd be the first to admit that Jacob could be selfish, but he couldn't believe that Jacob would have taken advantage of Bella like that. He threw open the bedroom door in a righteous fury and froze.

Bella was jumping on the bed, her skirt bunched in her hands. Her hair bounced all around her as she made a hopping circuit around the mattress, a grin of pure enjoyment on her face. Jacob sat on the floor at the foot of the bed, eating ice cream out of the carton and watching Spanish cartoons. He whipped his head around to look at Edward, the avenging angel who had no one's honor to avenge at this point. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just ... uh ... I heard ..."

Jacob tilted his head and listened to the sound of Bella's jumping and then chuckled. "You thought - " His chuckles turned into full-fledged laughter and Edward's cheekbones blossomed with red heat.

He turned to Bella with as much dignity as he could muster and gestured for her to follow him. "I've got some things for you, Bella." She hopped down off of the bed and trailed behind him into the living room. Edward took a bag off the cart and pulled out a dress. "I hope you like it," he said, feeling suddenly shy.

She looked at the dress in her hands and then pointed at her self with a questioning look.

"Yes, they're for you, Bella."

She gave him a huge, beaming smile that made every bit of the ordeal worth it and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. She pulled out the pins on her gown and both of the men whirled simultaneously to face in the other direction. "I think we can take it that she likes the clothes," Jacob said.

Bella said something and they turned to look at her. The dress was simple, cotton print that had short sleeves and a full skirt that reached to her calves. Bella whirled and the skirt belled out. She giggled and clapped her hands, then dove into the other bags with glee.

She took out a bra and looked at it curiously before she tossed it over her shoulder.

Jacob said delicately, "Um, I think one of us is going to have to ..."

"Forget about it," Edward replied. "That one, she has to figure out on her own." They had to turn around again as Bella stripped off the dress to try another.

Jacob nodded toward the bedroom. "Let's -"

"Yeah." They went inside, but left the door ajar.

"Where'd you get the ice cream?" Edward asked curiously as Jacob resumed his seat on the floor in front of the TV. He offered the carton to Edward, who declined, before he dug in once more.

"Convenience store, across the street," Jacob said around a mouthful of Chunky Monkey.

"You left her alone? You shouldn't h -" They both froze as they heard Bella squeal with laughter. They darted back into the living room and found her squeezing a bottle of douche and giggling as water spurted out of the nozzle in multiple directions, like a little fountain.

"At least the room will smell April Fresh," Jacob noted as he took it from her and put it back in the box. "Why'd you buy this for her?"

"I thought it was something women needed. You told me to get tampons and shit."

"Yeah, but they wouldn't have had Summer's Eve back in her day."

"Like they would have had Tampax?"

"Point taken." Jacob gathered up the bag of feminine hygiene products. "Let's set these things aside until we can communicate with her a little better or she seems to ... um ... need them."

Edward glanced over at Bella and saw that she wore one of the bras ... over her dress. The tag was still attached to the strap. In a little forlorn pile, the panties remained untouched. Edward sighed. He plucked the tag from the bra and showed her the picture on it of a woman wearing it over her bare skin. Bella nodded and pulled down the front of her dress. Edward closed his eyes, but not fast enough to avoid seeing ... and God, she was so beautiful. He turned at pointed at Jacob. "You deal with the underwear situation."

"Aw, fuck," Jacob muttered. Edward picked up the bag of toiletries and headed into the bathroom. He put the shower gel on the shelf in the tub along with the shampoo and conditioner. He laid out one razor, but thought the better of it and put it back into the bag. He heard Jacob say, "See? _Under_ the clothes. That's why it's called _under_wear."

He returned and found Jacob had unzipped his jeans and pulled them over his hip so she could see the underwear that he was wearing. And now he was trying to explain that the tag always went in the back by pointing to the tag and patting her on the lower back. Bella looked over at Edward as though to say, "A little help, here?"

Edward chuckled and shook his head. He picked up the jade pins that were scattered on the floor and folded her gown. He wondered if he should send it out to be laundered and decided against it.

Having dealt with the underwear education situation, at least enough for one day, Jacob collapsed on the sofa with a sigh. He turned on the television.

"How did she react to that?" Edward asked, and nodded his head toward the screen.

"Not well, at first," Jacob said. He rubbed a hand over his hair and gave Edward a rueful grimace. "She looked at the screen, looked at the back of it, tried to reach inside. She saw an image of some people and ... well, I think that she thought they were trapped inside. It really seemed to trouble her. So I changed to some cartoons, and she seemed to accept that a lot better."

"Shaykob," Bella said.

They turned to her and she put her hand to her stomach and gave him a beseeching look.

"Hungry again? Jesus. You just drained Edward a few hours ago." But he wasn't reluctant. He smiled at her and held out his wrist in offering.

Edward kept his attention firmly on the television screen and tried hard not to listen to the moan Jacob gave. He tried to make his mind drift, as he used to whenever Tanya was waxing lyrical on the virtues of the latest fashion trend but he couldn't push away reality at the moment. He closed his eyes and counted, instead.

* * *

><p>It was too goddam early for the phone to ring. Jacob grunted in irritation and fumbled for the bedside phone. "H'lo," he mumbled.<p>

"Jacob? It's Jasper."

"Oh, hey man." Jacob rolled over and rubbed a hand over his face. "What's up?"

"I think I found someone for you."

"Really? That's great."

"She's expensive," Jasper warned.

"Worth it?"

"Every penny, from what I hear. She sets up an identity, everything from vaccination and school records, even a credit history. It's impeccable."

"Awesome. When can she start?"

"She'll be on a plane tomorrow."

"She's coming here? Why?"

"Easier, I guess. I don't know."

"What's her name?"

"Rosalie Hale is what she goes by, but who the fuck knows if that's her real name or not. She's going to meet you in Catalupa City. The Hilton. Be in the bar at seven P.M. tomorrow. She'll find you."

"How will I know her?"

Jasper chuckled. "Oh, trust me, you'll know her."

"Thanks, Jasper. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

"When I got out of prison, you were the only one who helped me, the only one who let me have a second chance. I won't forget that."

"I'm sorry I had to make you talk to people that you would have preferred to leave behind, in your old life."

"It's okay. I handled it. I'm just glad I could use them for a good cause for once. Who is this girl? Pardon me if this sounds harsh, but I've never known you to lift a finger for one of your flings before."

Jacob glanced over at the bundle of blankets that was Bella. She rolled herself in them like a burrito before she went to sleep. "She's not a fling."

"I gathered that. Finally have a real girlfriend?"

"No, it's not like that. She's ... she's a friend."

"Hm. Another first."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Good luck, Jake. Let's grab a beer sometime when you get home."

"Will do. And thanks again, Jasper."

He hung up the phone and peeked over the Bella Burrito at Edward, who lay on the other side of her, perfectly straight on his back, his hands folded on his stomach. Even when he slept, Edward was uptight. Edward opened one eye. "Who's coming?"

"The forger. Her name is Rose. Supposed to be the best." Jacob scratched his chin and yawned.

"Good, good," Edward mumbled. Within seconds, Jacob heard the pattern of his breathing change as he fell back asleep. Jacob stuffed his arm beneath his pillow and snuggled down into it. He had the fleeting thought that they were both going to become nocturnal creatures themselves, as long as they had Bella.

* * *

><p>"Shaykob."<p>

"Mmph?"

"Shaykob!"

"What?" Jacob rolled over and found Bella standing beside the bed. It must be sunset already. Jacob sat up and yawned. "What do you want, Bella?"

"Oo-ash," she said. When he didn't jump to do her bidding, she stomped her foot. "Oo-ash!"

"Yeah, okay, okay." Jacob swung his legs to the floor and padded after her toward the bathroom. He had to admire her shapely backside as she walked. (Edward had said last night, with a hint of despair, that he hadn't expected the nightgown to be so sexy, to cling to every curve and flow over her body like it did.) The peach gown fluttered around her feet like rippling water as she walked, its glamor that of a 1930s movie star.

She waited at the door for him to pass and he went inside to turn on the taps. He filled the tub for her; he didn't think she'd like a shower yet. A generous dollop of the shower gel made the tub fill with bubbles and she was enchanted. She came into the bathroom and scooped up a handful. She examined the foam with a curious tilt to her head. Jacob blew across her flat palm and the bubbles hit her in the nose. For a moment, she seemed shocked, and then a smile lit up her face. A _wicked_ smile. She grabbed handfuls of bubbles to fling at him, and of course Jacob had to retaliate. By the time Edward woke and came to see what all the noise was about, they had spattered the entire bathroom with bubbles and both of them were covered from head to toe. Edward laughed softly and shook his head.

"You wanna get in on this?" Jacob invited.

Edward shook his head. "You two have fun. I'm going to make coffee and watch the news."

Jacob thought that was odd, but he went back to playing with Bella until Edward called his name. Jacob went out into the living room and saw Edward point at the television ... where his picture was displayed. A horrible cold, electric weight settled in his gut.

"Edward, what are they saying?"

Edward held up a finger to tell him to wait for a moment. He listened until the segment ended, and it felt like an eternity to Jacob.

"They're accusing you of robbing the tomb," Edward said. "They think that there was a mummy, which you stole, because of the broken crown they found on the floor and the fact that there was no dust in the sarcophagus."

"Oh, shit," Jacob whispered. "Lauren. Fucking woman scorned ..."

"This means we'll need two sets of papers forged," Edward said. "They'll have customs informed and they're not going to let you leave the country."

Jacob sat down heavily on the sofa, despite the fact that his pants were soaking wet. "Oh, my God."

"The good news is that Catalupa doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States, a symbolic gesture to protest the use of the death penalty in the U.S. Once you're on American soil, they can't do anything to you."

"The bad news is, I can never return to Catalupa." Jacob felt his throat tighten. He'd never be able to do another dig here and it was a crushing blow to his dreams. He'd probably never be able to do another dig _anywhere _because his reputation was shot to hell.

God, he felt sick.

Edward turned off the television and sat down beside him and laid an arm over Jacob's shoulders. Edward didn't speak any platitudes. That was not Edward's way.

It was so quiet in the room that they could hear Bella splashing around in the tub. She must have finally decided to get in herself if no one was going to "oo-ash" her. Jacob smiled a little. He couldn't regret any of it, even though it had cost him his dreams. Because he had made the most incredible find of his life: the Dark Goddess who was currently playing in a tub full of bubbles.

* * *

><p>That evening, after Bella had finished with her bath (she wanted to wear the nightgown again, but Edward coaxed her into wearing one of the dresses) they packed up their things. Bella's new wardrobe fit into Edward's suitcase, though they had to leave the toiletries in their plastic bags. They used the luggage cart to transport everything, though Edward and Bella took the stairs instead of the elevator, while Jacob rode down with their luggage.<p>

To their relief, Bella seemed enthusiastic about another ride in the car. She sat up front with Jacob, who drove, and had a pleasant time of poking buttons, rolling the windows up and down and combing through the glove department. The Land Rover's owners' manual fascinated her with the pictures of the engine, diagrams of the electronics and step-by-step instructions on how to change a flat tire.

Jacob plugged his iPod into the radio and turned it on for her. "It is time, my dear, to begin your musical education." He pressed play on the first song and _Come Monday_ poured out of the speakers.

"Ed'urrr!" she exclaimed..

"No, Jimmy Buffett," Jacob corrected. "You seemed to like this one, so I thought we'd start with it."

He had, apparently, constructed a play list for Bella, of music that spanned all of the genres

"Rather ... eclectic in your choices, aren't you?" Edward asked as AC/DC blared from the speakers.

"I want to find what she likes."

As it turned out, Bella liked Sarah McLaughlin and Enya, two choices that made Jacob wince, but he played them for her until she swished her hand as an indication she wanted to hear something else. She loved Willie Nelson's _Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain._

"Again?" Jacob asked.

"Uggin!" she agreed.

And so it went, all the way to the hotel in Catalupa City. Edward didn't know what information Jacob was gleaning from this process because Bella seemed to like songs from many genres (except for hard rock; she did not say "Uggin" to any of those offerings.)

The Hilton had valet service and a bellhop loaded a luggage cart with their bags. Jacob's tape-bedecked suitcase and Bella's Walmart bags probably raised eyebrows behind their backs, but Edward tipped well, as usual and the room he had booked was one of their finest suites.

Bella gasped when she saw it and darted around the room, examining the sculptures, the appliances in the small kitchen. She apparently thought the hanging rack of wine glasses was a musical instrument, because she shook it several times to hear the glasses clink. Edward winced, but none of them broke.

Edward and Jacob spent the evening teaching her English words, the names for various items she pointed to around the room. She only needed to hear it a couple of times before she understood - and memorized - the words, even if she couldn't always repeat them clearly. In the bathroom, she pointed to the toilet and said "ug-ee"and Edward cringed. He still felt guilty for making her feel bad.

Later, she sat down to watch cartoons with Jacob (the hotel had an American "family" television channel and she watched it intently, picking up words here and there with surprising speed.

Near dawn, she yawned, and Jacob escorted her to the bedroom. They checked the curtains carefully to make sure they were tightly closed and that the "do not disturb" sign was on the door. Bella wrapped herself in a blanket, which Edward suspected she did from fear of sunlight.

He'd gotten the room because it had multiple bedrooms, but as it turned out, neither of them wanted to leave. They both mentally assured themselves that it was to make Bella feel safer that they took spots on either side of her, and neither were willing to consider the real reasons.

* * *

><p>The next evening, Jacob headed down to the bar and ordered himself a beer. He glanced around at the occupants of the room, few because it was early yet. He watched a soccer game on the TV suspended from the ceiling, and no one glanced twice in his direction. Hopefully, the Catalupans paid as little attention to the news (especially archaeology news) as Americans did.<p>

When Rosalie Hale walked into the room, Jacob's jaw dropped. Yeah, no shit he'd know who she was.

She was a statuesque blonde, Marilyn Monroe if she were taller and curvier. Her sugarfloss hair was flipped into in a 40s-style wave and she wore a bright red evening gown. Her lipstick and nails matched. Her mouth curved up in a smile as she surveyed the room of stunned men. She accepted their homage as her due and strode to the bar, her absurdly high heels clicking on the marble floor. She slid onto the barstool beside Jacob.

"Hello." She offered her hand to shake. "Rose Hale."

"Jacob Black."

"Nice to meet you. Where is our friend with the identity issues?"

Jacob cleared his throat. "That's part of the issue. We now need two."

Rose lit a cigarette. Jacob was a bit surprised, but Catalupa hadn't banned smoking in public places as many the states in the U.S. had done. The bartender brought her an ashtray. "Two?"

"Yeah. One for me as well. I have recently developed some ... issues with law enforcement."

"Ah." Rose blew out a stream of smoke. "Double."

"I figured that."

"You didn't answer me. Where's the girl?"

"She's in our room. She doesn't do so well with public places yet."

Rose stabbed out her cigarette. "Take me to her."

Jacob looked back forlornly at his mostly untouched beer as they headed for the elevators. They rode upstairs in silence. Jacob used his keycard and opened the door for her. Bella was watching television with Edward. She frowned when she saw Rose and stood, pulling herself up to her full height. Rose locked eyes with her and to Jacob's surprise, it was Rose who backed down. Her voice was much softer when she spoke to Bella, and part of her aggressive confidence was seemingly tucked away. "Hello, Bella. I'm Rosalie Hale." She stuck her hand out and Bella just stared at it.

"She, uh, doesn't shake hands," Jacob offered.

Rosalie dropped her hand back to her side. "I see. Does she speak English?"

"Not really. A few words."

"_Habla Español_?" Rose smiled coaxingly at Bella.

"Nope."

Rosalie turned to Jacob with an expectant look on her face. "She speaks an obscure Catalupan dialect," Jacob told her. "We're ... uh ... working on the language barrier."

"I see. And what about you, Mr. Cullen?"

Edward had been silently watching, but now that the attention was on him, he went blank.

"He speaks English," Jacob offered.

"I know. I read his paper on chi particles in an excited state."

Edward blinked.

She tossed him a smile. "I only _understood_ about half of it, but I did read it."

Jacob was impressed because he rarely understood_ any_ of it. Whenever Edward started talking about particles and bosons Jacob began to zone out. The shit just made no sense to him.

Rose was back to all-business. She took a seat on the sofa and crossed her long legs. "So, Mr. Cullen, how do you feel about getting married?"

..

* * *

><p>AN: I'm entered in the "Til The World Ends" Contest and we need more entries. I've promised to write the one-shot of your choice if there are ten more stories entered.  
>fanfiction (dot) netu/3739378/TillTheWorldEndsContest


	5. Chapter 5

.

~.~

**Chapter Five**

~.~

The silence stretched on for an endless moment. Edward was frozen in place, his mouth slightly agape. The blush that had been rising in his cheeks faded quickly to pallor.

Bella decided the blonde was to blame for Edward's shocked expression. Her eyes narrowed, glittered dangerously behind her lashes as she lowered her head and said something sharp and menacing.

"No, Bella, it's okay," Jacob hastened to assure her. "Calm down. Everything's fine. Edward? A little help, here? Before she eats Rosalie?"

Rosalie slipped off her chair and knelt before Bella and bowed her head. Bella sat back, pacified for the moment, but still troubled by Edward's distress. She patted Edward's shoulder and he broke his stillness to turn his head to give her a brief smile.

"How did you know to do that?" Jacob asked in tones of awe.

Rosalie, who had gracefully risen and resumed her seat, swished a hand through the air. "Let's just say I've dealt with her kind before. Can we get back to business?"

It was Jacob who spoke again. "Married? To who?"

"_Whom_," Edward corrected automatically, his voice faint.

"Why, Bella, of course," Rosalie said. "It will be much easier this way and give her a firmly justified reason for her visa. I'm damned good at what I do, but nothing is perfect. If some investigator digs hard enough, they will find a flaw. As just one example, I can create fake school records for her, and they'll be so good that the school itself will be convinced she attended, but I can't go back and insert her in the yearbooks or class photos."

"Why Edward?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "And they told me you were of average intelligence. Because of his _name_. No one in the INS will question the wife of a Cullen. His uncle was Speaker of the House, for crying out loud."

"Great uncle," Edward noted.

"Sounds better if you say he was your uncle. Edward, would you be willing? You wouldn't have to go through a ceremony or anything like that. It's simply for purposes of documentation, though you would have to legally sever it after the two-year requirement is met."

Jacob shook his head. "So, he'd be not-really-married but still have to get a divorce? That's fucked up."

Rosalie shrugged. "If you don't want to do it, I can do it another way, but it will take more time and it increases her chances of becoming a subject of scrutiny. Homeland Security and Immigration Services aren't easy to hack these days, guys. I've got to get in and get out fast. Setting her up as the wife of a citizen is both quicker and easier."

"_I'll_ do it," Jacob offered.

"Thanks, but that won't help," Rosalie said. "Remember, you're going to be returning on fake papers, yourself."

Edward's voice was soft. "Yes, I'm willing."

"Excellent." Rosalie beamed and stood. "I'll be in touch with you gentlemen in -" She stopped and went over to the window as something caught her eye. She paused and turned back to the three people watching her in puzzlement. "Um, Jacob, you said something about difficulties with law enforcement ... It wouldn't happen to be something that would justify a S.W.A.T. team, would it?"

Jacob turned to Edward. "What name did you use when you booked the room?"

Edward winced. "My own."

"Fuck!" Jacob blurted. "Grab your shit!" Edward bolted for the closet where they'd stored their suitcases. Thankfully, they hadn't had the inclination to unpack.

"Here!" Rosalie handed Jacob her tiny red purse. "My keys are in there. Blue Camry in the parking lot. I'll take your rental car. There's a cell phone in there, too. I'll call it in twenty-four hours. Go!"

Jacob grabbed Bella's hand and took the handle of his suitcase as Edward made a fast dash into the bathroom to snatch up their toiletries. All four of them ran for the door. "I'll slow them down," Rosalie said. "Take the fire escape at the end of the hall."

How on earth did she know all of this? Jacob obeyed even as he marveled. They heard alarming crashing sounds behind them as they ran for the end of the hallway. Edward slid the window up and Jacob glanced back to see that Rosalie had jammed the door to the stairs by threading the leg of the chair that had sat under the window through the door handle. As Jacob watched, she stepped into the elevator, as cool as a cucumber. She gave him a tiny wave as the doors closed.

"Come on!" Edward hissed. Jacob followed him out the window and climbed down the spindly ladder. Jacob wasn't afraid of heights, but the fire escape swayed a bit and the ladder seemed far too flimsy to support the weight of all three of them as they climbed down. He could only hope that Bella would catch them if they fell. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until he reached the ground safely and let it out in a relieved sigh.

Edward crept on tiptoe up to the corner of the building and peeked around. "I'll go get the car," he offered. "I'm less recognizable."

"Wait." Jacob opened the front pocket of his suitcase and pulled out a baseball cap. Edward put it on and took the keys from Rosalie's purse. He sauntered around the building as though he didn't have a care in the world, swinging the key ring around his finger as he walked. He walked up to the first Camry he saw and Jacob jumped and waved, trying to get his attention. "_Psst! Edward! That's not blue_!" Edward, oblivious to the world around him, as usual, didn't notice.

He figured it out when the key didn't fit the lock. He froze for a moment and then strolled away, toward a gray Camry parked near the hotel's entrance. Jacob groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. "How many fucking Camrys can there be in this parking lot? I mean, what are the _odds_?"

The third one Edward tried was the right one. He drove it up to the corner and Jacob jumped inside the back seat with Bella. "Lie down!" he hissed, and pushed her against the seat. They passed the black S.W.A.T. van and Edward pulled out onto the street. Jacob and Bella sat up as the car began to accelerate.

"Next time, let me make the hotel reservations," Jacob muttered.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Edward said. "If they found us based on my name, that means that they're probably tracking my credit cards, too. I only have about one hundred fifty dollars, American, in cash. How about you?"

"Even less than that." He suddenly regretted buying the Chunky Monkey ice cream last night.

Edward turned the car down a side street. "All right then. Quick stop."

"What for?"

Edward nodded toward a sign for a bank. "I'm going to go max out my cash withdrawal limits on my cards at the ATM and then we'll get the hell away from this area as fast as possible."

"What if they've put a freeze on them?"

Edward adjusted the ball cap. "I guess we'll find out. Stay here. I'm going to park the car down the street so the security cameras won't see it."

"Smart thinking, Genius Boy," Jacob praised.

Edward climbed out of the car and grinned back at Jacob. "Thank you. I watch a lot of _Law and Order._"

He closed the door and headed toward the bank. Neither of them noticed the man lounging against the telephone pole on the other side of the street.

"Ed'urrr?" Bella said.

"He'll be right back. He's just getting us some money. " Jacob watched as Edward punched in his PIN and then bills spit out into the little tray below. Oh, thank God the card still worked. Edward kept his face pointed downward as much as possible, hidden below the brim of his cap, and was so intent on keeping his face concealed, he didn't notice the man come up behind him until the gun was jabbed into his back.

"Aaaaand now he's being mugged." Jacob grabbed the door handle.

"No," Bella said. She put a hand on his chest and flicked the other toward the mugger. He went flying as though she'd struck him with a Mack truck. Edward gaped, first at the mugger, who now lay in the center of the street, moaning as he clutched at his leg, and then at the gun on the sidewalk at his feet. He bent down and scooped it up and stuffed it into his pocket, along with the money, and then went back to using the ATM, seemingly unruffled by the incident.

"With all the other weird shit to think about, I forgot about your telekinesis. Good job, Bella!"

Bella beamed. "T'ankoo."

Jacob smiled back. She'd picked that up on her own. Smart girl.

This time when Edward fed in his card, no money came out. Edward walked back to the car swiftly. "Did you_ see_ that?" he asked Jacob, and pointed to the disabled mugger. His tone rang with indignation. He pulled the car out of the spot beside the street and made a U-turn to take them back toward the freeway. "Right out in the open! What's Catalupa coming to?"

"I don't know. Attempted robbery, archaeologists stealing mummies ... It's a mad fuckin' world, my friend."

Edward turned his head to look back at Bella. "Thank you," he said.

She ducked her head and smiled.

"It ate my second card," Edward continued. "I've been flagged. Which is quite unfair, in my opinion, considering that I haven't been charged with anything. Visa is going to be sent a very strongly-worded letter when I get home."

"How much did you get?"

"Twenty-five hundred."

"Pesos?" That was about five hundred bucks at the current exchange rate.

"No, twenty-five hundred dollars _worth_ of pesos."

"And we have a gun now, too. So that's a plus."

"Not really, since neither of us has ever fired a handgun, and neither of us would be inclined to shoot at law enforcement anyway."

"It can't be that difficult to shoot it. We used to shoot cans with Dad's rifle. Has to be the same principle, you know: point and pull the trigger."

"Maybe we should just get rid of it. What if we get arrested and they find it? It could have been used in other crimes."

Jacob scratched his chin. "Good point. Wipe your fingerprints off and we'll toss it down a drain somewhere so no one else can use it."

That got Edward back on the subject of robberies and crime rates and he muttered under his breath about the breakdown of the social contract.

"Where are we going, by the way?"

"As far as we can get before dawn," Edward replied.

"We might get further if you didn't drive like my Aunt Sally."

"Your Aunt Sally is dead."

"Exactly."

Edward puffed out an irritated sigh. "Fine. You drive." He pulled over to the side of the road and they cautiously exchanged seats, parked on the narrow shoulder of the road. Bella took the opportunity to hop over the back of the seat into the front. She held out her hand to Jacob. "Moosk."

"What?"

"Music," Edward translated. "She wants your iPod."

"Ah." Jacob fished it out of his pocket and plugged it in for her. She must have been watching closely as he used it the last time they were in the car, because she knew how to forward when a song began that she didn't like, until she found one that she did. "You hungry, by the way?"

"I am." Edward sounded surprised at this discovery.

"I'll stop at the next drive through."

"That's fine." Edward didn't really care about food. He regarded meals as an irritating interruption and would have been content to survive off of vending machine snacks which could be consumed while working. "We need to eat a high protein diet and keep well-hydrated if we're going to keep giving her blood."

Jacob cleared his throat. "Yeah."

"Stop when you see a department store or jewelry shop, will you?"

"Sure, but why?"

"I need to buy a pair of wedding rings."

* * *

><p>About an hour before dawn, Jacob had rented them a room in an out-of-the-way motel, the sort of run-down and forlorn place that Jacob knew from experience wouldn't check ID. He paid cash, signed the register as "Bela Lugosi" and sauntered back out to the car whistling the Bauhaus song.<p>

As dismal as the place had looked from the outside, the room managed to be worse. It smelled strongly of mildew and stale cigarette smoke and the windows were so caked with grime that they probably didn't need to worry about pulling the curtains closed to protect Bella from the sunlight. The walls retained every handprint and smudge they had ever acquired and the brown carpet had paths where it had morphed into a solid.

"We can't stay here," Edward said, surveying the room with horror. "_Bella_ can't stay here."

"Why not?"

"For Christ's sake, Jacob. She was a goddess to her people. This room isn't fit for a ten dollar hooker."

"We have to stay under the radar, remember? Places like this don't check ID and they don't ask for a credit card to cover the incidentals. It's safer here than at a five star luxury hotel."

"Surely, there's a happy medium!"

"You want to keep looking and maybe not find anything suitable before the sun comes up?"

"Point conceded." Edward stripped the polyester bedspreads off of the two double beds with a grimace and threw them in a corner before he sat down gingerly on one of the beds, as though he were afraid the sheets covered a biohazard.

Bella looked confused as she surveyed their surroundings and she had to be comparing their prior luxurious accommodations to this depressing squalor. She bent down and unfastened her gold anklet and handed it to Jacob.

Jacob shook his head and pressed it back into her hand. "Not necessary yet, honey." He pulled the curtains closed and discovered that they were too short; a band of light glowed from beneath them. Not good.

"Hand me one of those bedspreads, will you?"

Edward helped him drape it over the curtain rod. Bella watched as they carefully tucked it in, blocking the light.

"T'ankoo," she said. She went up on tiptoe and kissed each of them on the cheek. Edward blushed, and Jacob was pretty sure that he did, too.

* * *

><p>Rosalie was very punctual. The phone in the tiny red purse rang at precisely seven thirty the next evening. Edward fished it out and handed it to Jacob.<p>

"Where are you?" Rosalie asked, without bothering to reply to Jacob's salutation.

Jacob opened the bedside table and pulled out the phone book. He read the name of the city off to her and then got the address of the hotel itself from the label on telephone perched on the desk.

"Excellent. I'm not far. I need to come to take pictures of you and Bella. I should be there in less than an hour. I'll bring the papers I've already finished."

"You work fast," Jacob said.

He could almost hear Rosalie's shrug through the phone. "I've been in this business for a while, and some things are easier than others. I'll see you soon." She disconnected without further ado and Jacob put the little phone back into her purse.

Edward was watching the news with Bella propped up beside him on the bed. She wore one of her new dresses and her pink bunny slippers. The television was likely older than they were and the reception was poor, but at least the dialogue was discernible over the static. The reporter was talking about the temple dig, but thankfully, they hadn't shown an image of Jacob again. The hotel they had vacated so hastily appeared on screen and Edward flinched at something the reporter said.

"What?" Jacob asked, unable to wait until the end of the segment.

"They found one of Bella's jade pins in our suite. It must have rolled under the sofa or something."

Jacob shook his head. "They can't prove it's from the site. Catalupan artists still carve jade in the same way it's been done for a thousand years. We can only authenticate pieces based on context."

Edward was troubled. He had that crumpled worry-line between his eyebrows. "It's still more circumstantial evidence against you. I'm sorry, Jacob. I thought I got them all."

"Edward, stop," Jacob said, his voice firm. "There's no need to beat yourself up over this."

"Where are her earrings?" Edward was only now noticing that she was not wearing them.

"In my suitcase. Edward, seriously, calm down. Nothing has changed."

Edward raked his hands through his hair. "The good news is that the police officials were embarrassed by not catching you in the raid. The reporters appear to have pounced on it as an example of wasting resources, so I don't think we have to worry about manhunts. They can't justify the expense. As long as we keep our heads down and don't get pulled over for speeding or anything like that, we'll be safe. They'll probably wait to try to catch us leaving the country. By the way, my plane has been impounded."

Jacob winced. "Shit. Sorry, man."

Edward shrugged. "I'll get it back. They can't prove my involvement, especially since we disposed of the shoes we were wearing. I'd imagine my family has heard about this by now and they're exerting political pressure to try to keep my name out of it."

Esme Masen Cullen had a _lot_ of clout. Not only had her uncle been Speaker of the House for over a decade, but she was also a close friend of the current First Lady. Jacob had no doubt that Esme blamed the whole thing on Jacob. She always had, whenever Edward had gotten in trouble, whether Jacob had been involved or not. This time, she happened to be right. But Esme would work to get them _both_ out of trouble, lest Jacob's actions reflect poorly on her son. Jacob resigned himself to facing several years of icy politeness, and God almighty, that woman knew how kill someone with kindness.

Rosalie tapped on the door and Jacob opened it for her. Today, she was demure in a light blue dress and ballet flats, her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail at her nape, and her makeup was light and subtle. In her one hand, she carried a gooseneck lamp, and in the other, bag from which a manilla folder peeked.

"Hello, everyone." Rosalie bowed her head in Bella's direction and Bella only hesitated for a moment before she replied with a nod. Rose smiled and laid the lamp on the foot of the bed. She opened the file on the desk. "Here's what I have for you so far. Here are the birth certificates. One for 'Isabella Cisne', and the other for you, Jacob, now officially 'Kevin Grey'."

The papers looked a bit faded from age and both were creased as though they had been stored in an envelope for years. One of the corners of Bella's was dogeared. Hers was in Spanish, type written on a machine that had a crooked letter 'E'. Jacob's had a pair of baby footprints impressed on the paper in ink.

"Why didn't you just make her a U.S. citizen already?"

Rosalie shook her head. "It would raise suspicions, because she doesn't speak the language and her behavior would send up red flags. Your greatest danger is from the people around you once you get home. It's more believable if she's an immigrant." She flipped over to the next sheet.

"These are her immunization records and a medical examination certificate. There will be another copy of each inside the sealed customs packet I give you tomorrow. Do _not_ open it. You have to hand it, sealed, to the customs agent when you enter the U.S. And here is the wedding certificate making her Isabella Cullen." That paper looked new, which was reasonable, considering it was dated only a few days ago. He saw the minister's signature at the bottom and asked. "Is he real?"

"Oh yes, and he'll vouch for the happy couple if asked."

Edward pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it. He plucked the rings from the velvet and turned to face Bella and picked up her hand. He slid the plain gold ring onto her finger. She eyed it curiously, and tilted her head as she watched him don his own.

"Certified copy of the application for the marriage license, just in case." Rosalie flipped over to the next paper. "Your story is that you met over the internet and corresponded for a few years. She applied for a diversity visa about nine months ago, and it was just recently approved, and the applications are backdated to reflect it. When Jacob asked you to come down to the dig, you went to meet her and decided this was the girl you wanted to marry. You went to the embassy afterward and updated her applications to reflect your marriage, and since she was already approved on her own, she now has a permanent resident visa. I'll bring the passports for her and Jacob to you tomorrow after I get your pictures processed."

"Processed? As in _developed_, like film?"

"Don't be silly. They're digital. But I need to take the photos and alter them. Help me tack up this sheet." She took a piece of snowy white cloth from her bag and Jacob used the thumbtacks she provided to fasten it to the wall. She attached the gooseneck lamp to the desk chair and plugged it in below. It cast off a surprisingly bright light for such a small lamp. She took two pictures of Jacob and then asked Bella to stand in front of the cloth. Edward took her hand and tugged her to her feet, over to the brightly lit spot in front of the cloth. Rosalie stepped forward and moved Bella slightly to the right. Bella wrinkled her nose and turned her head as if Rosalie smelled bad. Maybe it was the light perfume that Rosalie wore, Jacob thought. Some people couldn't stand floral scents.

Thank God Rosalie wasn't using flash. Edward called Bella's name softly as he took a position behind Rosalie and it gave her the perfect angle and expression needed for the shot. Then, Rosalie asked all of them to stand together in front of the cloth. "And look happy. This is going to be your wedding picture."

Jacob made a series of silly faces for Bella so that she'd laugh and Rosalie caught her each time at the right moment, right when her laughter had faded into a smile.

Rosalie put her camera back into her bag. "Come out to dinner with me, Jacob."

"Nah, thanks for the invitation, but I'd - "

"You should go," Edward interrupted. "Go on. Have fun."

Jacob was bewildered. "What?"

"Seriously. Go, have dinner, have a few beers."

"Come on." Rosalie took him by the arm and tugged him to the door.

"Are you sure you - "

"We'll be fine," Edward said. "Have fun!"

Rosalie more or less dragged Jacob to the parking lot. She had a new rental car, a Fiat, and she made the casual offer for him to drive, which Jacob could not resist. He slid behind the wheel and revved the powerful engine. Too bad he had to be so careful not to speed. He'd love to open it up on the freeway and see how the car handled.

"You were either really hungry and are one of those people who can't go to a restaurant alone, or you really wanted to get me out of there for some reason."

Rosalie gave him a tiny smile and flipped down the visor. She took a small bag from the backseat and used the lighted mirror while she darkened her makeup to the dramatic flair she seemed to prefer. "Every couple should have at least a little time alone on their wedding night, don't you think?"

"It's not like that," Jacob retorted.

"If it's not yet, it will be."

"How do you know? You've been around them for less than an hour."

"I have eyes." She gave him an uncharacteristically coy glance. "And I'd imagine I know more about vampires than you do."

He hit the brakes in a shocked reflex. The car skidded to a halt and Rosalie cried out in anger as her bottle of foundation spilled all over her dress. Cars zipped around them, as water will rush around a stone dropped into a creek. "What the fuck, Jacob?"

"Cut the shit and tell me right now: how did you know she's a vampire?"

"I can smell it. Can you drive the car now? Before someone crashes into us?"

"I'll drive. You talk." He hit the gas and merged back into traffic. "All right. What did you mean that you can smell it?"

"Vampires have a sort of spicy scent, which smells good to you. My kind are particularly attuned to it."

He didn't oblige with the "_Your kind_?" question she was obviously waiting for. The silence stretched thin.

She continued with a hint of irritation. (Oh, this woman would be so much fun to annoy. but he had to stay on her good side.) "I'm a dayman. We're people who have an affinity for vampires. We serve them, taking care of human business, which is usually transacted during daytime, and protect them when they are most vulnerable, hence the name."

"And that makes you different than other people?"

"There are a few other differences. We live a little bit longer and are generally more healthy than ordinary humans, but not abnormally so. It's the affinity and pull we feel toward vampires that really sets us apart. We're not really complete until we find our own vampire to serve."

"You can't just pick one?"

She shook her head. "We're sensitive to the needs and feelings of any vampire in our vicinity, but with our own vampire, it's like our souls are connected. It's something powerful, immutable, insoluble."

"You're in love with them?"

"God, no. Don't get me wrong, there's love between a dayman and their vampire, but there are very powerful instincts involved which prevent romantic feelings. It would feel like incest to us. Plus, to them, we stink."

Jacob laughed. "I thought I saw Bella wrinkle her nose when you approached her."

"Yeah, well she doesn't exactly smell like a bed of roses to me, either, pal."

They both laughed. Rosalie nodded toward a small building surrounded by cars. "There's the place. The concierge at my hotel recommended it."

"I'm not dressed up," Jacob said.

Rose looked over his t-shirt and jeans. "You don't say."

He liked this woman, Jacob decided. As beautiful as she was, he wasn't attracted to her, but she seemed like the kind of person who would make a good friend, the kind you would think of as a casual drinking buddy and never realize how deeply her loyalty went until the shit hit the fan and she was there for you.

After he parked the car, she went around back and popped the trunk. She pulled out a small throw blanket. "Hold this up for me."

He did and she unzipped her makeup-stained dress and wriggled out of it. Jacob turned his head so far he was afraid his neck might crack. He heard the sound of another zipper. "All finished."

Now, Rosalie wore a wine-red dress, calf length, with little spaghetti straps. He wondered how those little straps were able to support the weight of her prodigious rack. His eyes were drawn like magnets to the deep cleavage she showed as she bent to slip her feet into a matching pair of heels. She glanced up and caught him staring and her lips quirked up into an amused smile. "Let's go in. I'm hungry."

Rosalie spoke Spanish, so she was able to converse pleasantly with the hostess who led them to their table. Jacob felt rather out of place in his casual clothes, but Rosalie's bravado was more than enough to carry it off. They were seated and given menus, and in a few moments, were asked by their waiter for their drink orders.

"How do you find your vampire?" he asked, after the waiter walked away to get their drinks. (One word in Spanish that Jacob had made it a priority to learn: _cerveza_.)

"Once a dayman is located, they can be entered into a database that works sort of like a dating service, introducing people with certain traits to vampires looking for daymen. If the vampire and dayman are going to click, it happens almost instantly. Otherwise, they go back into the pool to try again. I'm not actively looking right now, so I'm registered, but categorized as _'at large_'. Daymen at large work in the vampire world doing general services that vampires need, such as forging documents. There are also a lot of dayman lawyers, accountants, bottlers -"

"Bottlers?"

"Bottling blood."

"What, they can't just rob a blood bank?"

"No. The anti-coagulants and preservatives used in bagged blood render it indigestible." Rosalie's tone was absent as she perused the menu.

"So, what do you guys use?"

"A preservative based on honey, believe it or not. We have a scientist who discovered the formula a few years back."

"So, they don't drink from humans, usually?"

"No, they usually prefer it fresh, right from the vein, but there's bottled blood for when hunting is inconvenient or when they want to get intoxicated. There's a big market for the blood of drunks and stoners."

Jacob thought for a moment about how to phrase this next question without raising suspicion about Bella's talents. "Do vampires have any kind of special powers?"

"A few come standard with the package: the ability to read and control human minds and plant false memories, super strength and speed, that sort of thing, but some vampires have talents of their own."

"Why aren't you a vampire?" Jacob asked. "Don't you want the immortality and all that jazz?"

"I can't. Physically, I mean. It's something built into us daymen. We never survive the change. It's against the law now, to try."

"Vampire law?" For some reason, Jacob found this concept amusing.

"Yes, vampire law. They're sentient creatures, Jacob, and they do have a society." Rosalie sounded somewhat offended by his amusement. He hid his grin quickly.

"Do they have courts and stuff?"

Rosalie nodded. "There's a Queen, Victoria Volturi, and a Council that create our laws. They also enforce them. Victoria has her own police force, known by her last name. As soon as you can, you're going to need to get Bella registered and she needs to start learning the laws. They'll have some leniency with her, since she doesn't know, but if she reveals that vampires exist, or if she kills people, she could be up on charges before the court. And they only have one form of punishment."

"I don't think she knows that other vampires exist," Jacob said. "She was worshiped as a goddess, and that's what she thinks she is. She thinks she makes the rain fall."

"She had to have known at least one other vampire, the one who changed her."

Jacob shrugged. "They could have had their own mythology about that, a line of gods and goddesses of blood. Who knows? The point is, I'm pretty sure she's not aware of your Queen and council."

The waiter returned to their table and distributed the drinks. Rosalie had ordered a whiskey, neat, and Jacob had Brazilian chope beer in a frost-coated glass. She was not a salad-and-lemon-water kind of girl. She ordered a steak - a big one - rare, with a baked potato loaded with sour cream and butter. Jacob decided to make it easy on their waiter and ordered the same.

Rosalie rotated her short glass between her hands, and stared into its depths pensively. "She's going to have a tough time with that, when she finds out that she's just an ordinary vampire and that she has to submit to the Queen's authority. It's going to be hard for her to accept."

Jacob set his glass back on the table. "Let's worry about getting her back to the U.S. first."

"How do you intend to get there?"

Jacob sighed. "I don't know. We can't fly, at least, not out of Catalupa. Maybe once we cross the border into another country, we can get a flight from there. Otherwise, we're in for a very long fucking drive."

She tapped one long, perfectly manicured nail against the side of her glass. "I may be able to help with that."

..

* * *

><p>AN: I keep my blog updated with answers to your questions about this story: lissabryan (dot) blogspot (dot) com/2012/04/dark-goddess-questions-and-comments (dot) html

This is now a E/B story. The original version is posted on TWCS. See my blog for further info:  
>lissabryan (dot) blogspot (dot) com2012/04/changes-to-dark-goddess-storyline (dot) html


	6. Chapter 6

.

~.~

**Chapter Six**

~.~

The Dark Goddess lay back in the bathing trough and picked up a handful of that strange thick foam that grew on the water. She blew it off her fingertips to watch it gently float in the air.

She liked washing in this new world. She had never had a container of water large enough to climb into before; her people washed using bowls of water. And it was hot! If the water cooled, all she had to do was turn a dial for more hot water to fall into the trough. And when she was done, the water fell away down a little hole. She wondered where it went.

The only downside was that she could not get either of the men to wash her. They took care of her in their own way - Ed'urrr had carefully scrubbed the trough with a white cloth and some of her fruity soap before he filled it up for her - but when she tried to get him to stay and get into the trough with her, he turned red and his words were choked. He had hurried from the room when she opened her gown. These people were very strange when it came to nakedness, she thought as she undressed. They even wore a second, unnecessary layer of clothing against the skin, for which she could not discern a purpose.

She dunked her head back under the water to rinse it. She'd never washed her own hair before. Her priests had taken care of her since she was a baby. She did not like the way the fruity-smelling soap made her hair feel. There were other bottles, but she did not know what they contained.

She lay motionless under the water, enjoying the way it muffled the sounds she heard. The bubbles closed in, filling the clear spot of water her head had made. And as the bubbles closed over her eyes, memories closed in as well.

She'd been brought to the priests when she was an infant. Her mother had seen her teething toy spinning in the air over her cradle and knew that her baby was an Incarnation, the only one born in centuries. She had always wondered if it had been difficult for her mother to give her up. She didn't know. She'd never seen her again and was too young to have memories of her. She'd had a name back then, too, but she didn't remember what it had been. It was strange to have one now, but she allowed them to call her "Bella" because they did not know how to say the title by which she was supposed to be referred. She understood; she couldn't say some of their words, either.

Her earliest memories were of life in the temple which had been built for her, her priests playing games with her, singing to her, bringing her the offerings of the people. They protected her, pampered her, cuddled her, made her feel safe and loved. She missed that feeling. Neither Ed'urrr nor Shaykob would cuddle with her in the bed, and so she always wrapped herself snugly in a blanket, which felt a little bit like being held.

When she reached maturity, they had taken her on a long journey to the other temple, the one which housed the woman in whom the Goddess had incarnated previously. She had seemed sad as she opened her vein into a bowl. "I'm not ready," she had said softly as she watched her replacement drink the blood she spilled.

The change into a goddess had been terrible, her body transformed in violent illness and indescribable pain. She didn't remember much about it, and for that, she was grateful. When she had woken the next evening, she was divine and the previous Incarnation was gone. The stone at the pinnacle of her temple had been removed and when the sun reached its zenith, she was no more. Her ashes were placed in the bottom of her stone hibernation bed, and the lid had been slid into place for the final time. Her possessions were packed into bags to be taken to the new temple, for they belonged to the Goddess, regardless of what body she inhabited. The temple was sealed and abandoned.

A long time passed. She did not know how long. She told time by the turnover of her priests as they aged, grew old, and died, and new young men were brought to be trained to take their place, only to age and die as well. Her heart grew weary of loss. She hibernated when it became too much to bear, and though endless ages passed, no new Incarnation was born to take her place. She began to long for it. Then, she had lost her Chosen to the sugar-blood sickness and it felt as though her heart had died with him. She went into hibernation again and had woken in this strange, new world where very little made sense and it seemed her worship had been forgotten.

Who did they believe made the rain fall? The men hadn't taken her to another temple, and she hadn't seen either of them pray or make offerings to another god. But in this strange world, she wouldn't be surprised if they had a device that created rain for them. Maybe they no longer needed gods because they could do everything themselves.

"_Bella!"_ Ed'urrr shouted, his voice muffled by the water. He seized her shoulders and pulled her up, out of the water, his features twisted with panic. She blinked at him in confusion and he gave a groaning sigh of relief. He whispered something and hugged her tightly.

She realized that she had scared him, lying under the water like that. He didn't know she didn't have to breathe. She crooned to him and rubbed his back. He drew back slightly and kissed both of her cheeks and then paused, for an endless, aching moment, and then his lips found hers.

It was a kiss that was purely Ed'urrr, shy and sweet, tentative at first, his lips gentle and seeking. His tongue darted out and touched her lip, then retreated before slowly returning again, to trace the seam of her lips. She opened them and touched his tongue with her own. It made him pull back slightly, but then he gave into his desires and kissed her wildly, passionately, as if he could not get enough of the taste of her mouth. She tangled her fingers in his hair and urged him on.

His hands traced slowly from her back to her ribs and then upward until he cupped one of her breasts in his hand. His thumb grazed her nipple and she moaned. As if the sound had broken a spell, he pulled away and his face reddened as he tried to stammer something. She smiled softly and cupped his cheek. "Okay," she said. It was a word she heard from Jacob frequently which seemed to mean he found the circumstances acceptable. "Okay."

* * *

><p>It <em>wasn't<em> okay. If he'd been thinking clearly after he pulled her out of the water, he never would have done it.

He remembered an assembly they'd once had when he was in high school. A reformed drug addict had given a lecture on the dangers of crack. One hit, he warned, and you were addicted for life.

Bella seemed to be his own personal brand of crack. Already, he craved another taste of her lips, the feel of her cool breath on his face, her fingers curled in his hair. And oh, God, the feeling of her silky-soft skin. His hands ached to touch her again.

He should never have kissed her. Never taken that first hit.

"I'm sorry," he told her again. He stood and took one of the thin terrycloth towels from the metal rack above the toilet and handed it to her.

She wrapped the towel around her head instead of her body and sat there on the rim of the tub, gloriously nude and unashamed. He didn't want to look, but his eyes seemed to move of their own accord and he noted that though she hadn't even opened the packet of razors he'd bought her, she had no body hair. He glanced up and their eyes caught. Hers were curious. He looked away and handed her another towel, but the image of her perfect body seemed burned on his retinas. He tried to think of math, of baseball, of dead puppies ... anything but the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, a Paradise he would never visit.

Bella tossed the towel aside as she stood and sauntered over to him. She put her arms up around his neck. "Ed'urrr, okay."

He pulled away as gently as he could. "Not okay."

Her face crumpled and for a terrible moment, he thought she was going to cry. But she lifted her chin and an invisible mantle of dignity settled over her. She turned away to pull on her clothing.

"Bella, it's not that I don't want to," he said. "I do. Oh, God, how I do. But I don't think it's right to take advantage of you. You're emotionally vulnerable right now, and I don't want you to do this because of loneliness or dependency. I wouldn't ever want it to be something you regretted." He pushed his hands through his hair. "And I think it would be. You're so amazing. You could have any man you wanted. You could have someone ... normal. You _should_ have someone normal."

She studiously ignored him as she shoved her feet into her bunny slippers. She picked up her hairbrush and left the bathroom. Edward followed her, at a loss.

She sat down on the end of the bed and pulled her hair over her shoulder. She was awkward with the brush and it tangled in her hair. She pulled it loose with a small sound and a wince.

"Let me," he said and took the brush from her. She met his eyes, her own sad and beseeching. He sighed and began to brush her hair. It was tangled and felt odd beneath his fingers. An idea occurred to him and he went into the bathroom to search the bags for the leave-in conditioner. He worked it through her hair as they sat in silence, and then he brushed. He brushed long after all the tangles had gone and her dry hair was silky and shiny, a dark coffee waterfall in his hands. "Beautiful," he said softly.

She turned around and reached up a hand to gently tug a lock of his own wildly disordered hair. "Bootfoo," she repeated.

He chuckled. "I'm glad you think so, though you're probably the only one. Tanya always says that - " He stopped suddenly. He hadn't thought of Tanya in days, not since his trip to Walmart. He had a cold feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach.

"Bootfoo," she said again. She traced her fingertips over his face and he closed his eyes. "Ed'urrr ... okay?"

He nodded. "I'm okay."

She gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment and then scooted up the bed to lay on her side. She opened her arms to him and he couldn't resist. He lay down beside her and drew her against his chest. She snuggled against him. He heard a soft sniffle and touched her face to find it damp with tears.

"Oh, Bella," he said. "Why are you crying, honey? Did I hurt you by refusing?" He cupped his hands under her jaw and wiped away the tears with his thumbs. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I ... care for you. More than I should, perhaps, and it's so difficult to resist you."

She must have understood his tone, if not his words. She gave him a wobbly smile. "Bella okay."

He kissed her forehead, a gentle, lingering caress.

When he opened his eyes again, he couldn't tell if it were daylight or dark, so well did the comforter block the light from the window. He glanced down at Bella, who was still asleep. Daytime, then. He sat up, rubbing his eyes with the sides of his fists like a child.

Jacob lay on the other bed, propped against the headboard with the thin hotel pillows crammed behind his back. He was watching cartoons with the sound muted, but Edward didn't think he was seeing the images, though he stared at the screen.

"Jake."

"Hey, you're finally awake."

"What time is it?"

Jacob held up his bare wrist. "No watch, remember?"

"No clocks?" Edward looked around the room and didn't even see an alarm clock.

"No."

And they had given back the cell phone that Rosalie had loaned to them.

"It's evening, though," Jacob said. "I peeked behind the curtain. I'd estimate it's six-ish." His eyes flicked to Bella. "Did she feed last night?"

"No, she didn't." How strange, when she had fed from both of them at least once a day before. Edward carefully slid from the bed, as not to disturb Bella, and headed for the bathroom. Her bath water from last night still stood in the tub. Edward reached down inside and pulled the plug.

When he emerged, Jacob had turned off the television and sat at the foot of the bed. Edward took the desk chair in front of him. "I don't even know how to start this shit," Jacob said with a shake of his head.

"Begin at the beginning," Edward said, very gravely, "and go on until you come to the end: then stop."

Jacob chuckled. "All right. Rosalie told me she knew Bella was a vampire, because she's a special kind of human that serves them. They're called daymen and they have some sort of soul-meshing thing with their vampire."

Edward scratched his head. "She's not saying that Bella is her vampire, is she?"

"No. She hasn't found hers yet. Bella would have reacted to her a lot differently if Rose was her dayman."

Jacob recounted every detail he could remember about daymen and the vampire world. Edward listened intently, asking a question here and there, many of them questions that Jacob hadn't thought to ask and Edward could tell that Jacob was frustrated by it.

"The main point of all of this is that we have to get Bella registered and she has to submit to the authority of this vampire Queen. I don't think Bella's going to have problems with their laws, which pretty much boil down to, '_Don't kill people'_ and '_Don't tell people you're a vampire._"

"_We_ know what she is."

"Yes, but we're willing to keep the secret. There are other ordinary humans in their world, too. Rose told me there are vampire bars where people go to get bitten. Some people are even addicted to vampire bites."

Edward could understand that. He was understanding addiction more and more each second, actually.

"So ... did you have a nice time while I was gone?" Jacob grinned at Edward, and Edward was amazed he didn't redden.

"Bella had a bath and then we went to bed. How late were you out?"

"Far later than I wanted to be. Rose talked me into going to a bar after the restaurant. I've never seen a woman who can drink so much. We had to take a cab back to our hotels and she tried to talk me into going back to hers to drink _more._ On a related note, I discovered that I actually _do_ have a limit for the amount of beer I want to consume in an evening's time."

"Hung over?"

"Badly."

"I'll go buy you some aspirin and orange juice," Edward offered.

"Don't worry about it. Rose will be here in a couple of hours with the rest of our papers and then we can move on." Jacob studied Edward's face and his eyes sharpened. "Is something wrong?"

"Something wrong? No, of course not. Why would you think something was wrong when there's obviously nothing wrong? Nothing at all. Why would you ask?"

Jacob just crossed his arms and waited.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong. Everything is fine."

Jacob lifted a brow.

Edward sighed. "I kissed her. I didn't mean to do it. It just ... happened."

"She's your wife, man. You can kiss her if you want."

"She's not really my wife," Edward protested. "We haven't even dated, for Christ's sake."

"For the next two years, she is. And I'll tell you this: Better her than Tanya."

"Tanya broke off our engagement right before I left."

"I'm sorry if she hurt you, but I'm not sorry to see her go. That gold-digging bitch was never right for you."

Edward opened his mouth to defend her out of force of habit, but then he closed it again. Jacob was right. Tanya _was_ a gold-digger and she _was_ a bitch, but the truth of the matter was that he had used her just as much as she used him. She had been his shield, his excuse, a non-confrontational way to keep Esme off his back about settling down and producing grandchildren. Thinking about his mother stirred up the same unease he'd felt when he thought of Tanya. She was going to be shocked when he returned from Catalupa with a wife in tow. As much as she may have disliked Tanya, she wouldn't be happy when confronted with a _fait accompli_ daughter-in-law.

"I'm gong to go take a shower," Edward announced. He scooped some clean clothing from his bag and retreated to the bathroom. He needed time to think, but his thoughts were tangled and disjointed. He dropped his head and let the hot water beat down on the back of his neck.

* * *

><p>Bella woke as she always did, instantly alert as she sat up and looked around. She saw Jacob and leapt from the bed to throw herself into his arms. "Shaykob!"<p>

"Whoa, Bella, sweetie." Jacob awkwardly patted her back. "Did you think I wasn't coming back?"

"Shaykob, Bella no okay," she whispered, and a pink tear rolled down her cheek.

"Aw, honey." Jacob scooted to the edge of the bed and pulled her onto his lap. She laid her forehead on his shoulder and sobbed. Jacob rubbed her back and whispered soothing things into her hair. And that's what Edward saw when he emerged from the bathroom, Bella sobbing, being comforted by Jacob, held in his arms.

"I- uh ..." Edward's face flushed with guilt. "I uh ... I need to go get something." And with that, he bolted from the room, pulling the door shut behind whim with a sharp _bang_ that made Bella wince.

"Okay?" Jacob asked her.

Bella nodded and wiped her cheeks fiercely, as though she were angry with the tears.

"What happened, honey? You two looked so comfortable last night. What made you cry?"

"Ed'urrr." She puckered her lips in a kiss then mimed shoving someone away. "Ed'urr, okay?" She said this in a beseeching tone, and then she crossed her arms and glanced everywhere but his face, a perfect imitation of Edward when he was stressed. "Ed'urrr: '_No okay_!'"

He nodded. "He told me he kissed you. You're not upset about that. You're upset that he stopped."

"Bella ... no okay?" she asked, and her forehead wrinkled in worry.

"No, that's not it. He likes you just fine, but he feels guilty. I know. For a smart guy, he's really stupid sometimes. Just give him time, honey. He'll figure it out. I promise."

* * *

><p>Edward couldn't stand to hear her sobs, and worse, to know he had caused them. It wasn't until he had closed the room's door behind him that he realized he was barefoot, dressed in his pajama pants and a t-shirt. Worse, he was just standing there, pointlessly. He wished he smoked. He decided, finally, to walk over to the Camry. Jacob had left it unlocked with the key above the visor in case Rosalie wanted to pick it up or tell the car rental company where it was. Edward had thought it was a bad idea at a place like this, but the car still sat there, untouched.<p>

He entered on the passenger side and put the key into the ignition so that he could turn on the radio. He scrolled through the stations until he found classical music. He closed his eyes and lay back against the seat and let the music wash over him. It should have been soothing.

He felt like shit. He should never have kissed her. Would he never learn to think before he acted?

Someone tapped on the window and he jumped. Rosalie's face peered down at him. He blinked at her and then lay back again, closing his eyes so she'd go away and leave him alone. But Rosalie was not so easily deterred. She walked around to the driver's side and opened the door. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Listening to music." _Beating myself up._

She sat down and pulled the door closed. "Any particular reason why you can't listen to it in your room?"

"I'm an asshole."

"Agreed. But why are you sitting out here, pouting?"

He closed his eyes again.

"_I shut my eyes and the world drops dead_. Is that it, Edward? You escape from the questions you don't want to answer by shutting out the world? You know what I think? I think you're not quite as shy as you seem. You hide in it when it's convenient for you."

He opened one eye. "I told you I was an asshole."

She smiled, and it was a gentle smile, full of warmth. "I don't think you're an asshole. I think you're just afraid sometimes. We all are, you know. But you can miss out on some of the best things that life has to offer because of fear."

"I fucked up," he confessed. "I ... Well, I gave into temptation. I did something that I shouldn't have done."

Rose snorted. "According to whom?"

"I kissed her." Edward's voice was so low that it was barely audible over the soft music.

"So?"

"So, I shouldn't have done that. She's vulnerable. She's scared and confused."

"Or, maybe she's just attracted to you. Did you ever consider that?"

It was his turn to snort. "Why? Jake is far better-looking than I am."

Rose chuckled. "Your kinda cute when you're befuddled. Besides, it's not always about the physical, Edward. She's attracted to your gentle nature, your kindness."

Maybe it was hiding, like Rosalie had said, but he couldn't continue this conversation. His face burned. He saw some coins in the ashtray and scooped them out into his hand. He opened his door.

"Where are you going?"

"Vending machine," he said. "Thirsty."

She nodded. "I'll see you inside."

"Yeah."

Edward lingered at the machine, as though considering the choices. He finally bought three Cokes and headed back to the room when he could put it off no longer. He had to tap on the door because he'd forgotten a key in his haste to flee. Jacob opened it, his eyes questioning.

"Want a Coke?" Edward offered.

Jacob took one. "Thanks."

"Rose?"

"Nah, I'm good." She had a pile of papers laid beside her on the bed and Bella lay on her stomach beside her, her ankles crossed in the air behind her. She studied one of the passports and ran her finger over the image.

"I was just showing Jake your wedding pictures," Rosalie said. She handed them to Edward, a small pile of snapshots taken on the steps of a church. Bella wore a simple white dress and she had a bouquet of lilies in one hand. Jacob and Edward both wore suits, each with a lily in the buttonhole. They all looked happy, especially Bella, whose eyes twinkled with laughter.

"They look great," Edward said, with little enthusiasm.

"Thanks," Rosalie replied, her tone dry. "Your delight with the finished product makes all the effort worth it."

Jacob leaned over and plucked the passport from Bella's hand. "This is amazing, Rose. You even have the data chip." He compared it with his own. "Mine doesn't, though."

"Right. Yours was issued back in 2005, before the chips came into use. I didn't want the both of you to have 'new' passports."

"Hey, I've been to France and Italy," Jacob said, flipping the pages to admire the stamps inside. "How the hell did you do this, Rose? Didn't you sleep?"

"Not a wink. But everything is done now. I have school records for her, past employment history, a copy of a clean police record, even a couple of baby pictures."

"You're amazing," Jacob told her, and a hint of a blush appeared on Rosalie's cheekbones. "She won't have a bit of trouble at the border."

"I think I've found a way that you guys won't even have to go through customs."

"Really? How?"

* * *

><p>"You've got to be fucking kidding me. No<em> way<em> am I getting inside of that thing." Edward backed away from the cargo container and watched with horrified fascination as the crane picked up another and stacked it on the ship.

"It's only for a few hours," Rosalie coaxed. "Once we're safely at sea, the captain will come to let us out."

"_This_ was your clever plan?"

Rosalie sighed. "Edward, only about one percent of cargo containers are searched when they enter the U.S. It's the least risky."

He stared at the cargo ship, where the containers were being stacked, seven units high and shook his head again. "This is crazy. How the hell will we get _out_?"

"We'll be on the bottom row," Rosealie said. "Seriously, Edward. This is all planned out. It's perfectly safe. We've even got nice comfy chairs set up inside, a cooler full of drinks and a lamp so you can read. Again, it's just for a few hours, until we get out to sea. Then, we'll have two weeks on the ship before we have to get back inside to be unloaded in the U.S."

"Then, why bother with the papers at all?"

"Nothing's perfect." Rosalie shrugged. "We could get boarded by the Coast Guard, or discovered at the port. And as unlikely as either of those scenarios are, our asses are covered if that happens."

"Don't you think they'll be a bit suspicious as to why we decided to travel by shipping container?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "We'll tell them that we were too cheap to buy a plane ticket home. Whatever. Just get in the goddam box."

"This is a bad idea."

"You got a better one?"

Edward sighed and followed them into the container.

* * *

><p>AN: **This story is now an E/B story**. Details on my blog: lissabryan (dot) blogspot (dot) com/2012/04/changes-to-dark-goddess-storyline (dot) html

You can read the original "triangle" version at The Writer's Coffee Shop:  
>www (dot)thewriterscoffeeshop (dot) ?sid=5702&amp;ageconsent=ok&amp;warning=2<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

.

~.~

**Chapter Seven**

~.~

Jacob had never known he was claustrophobic until now, and it wasn't a particularly convenient time to make that discovery. He paced the narrow confines of the container, getting more agitated by the moment. It was hot and stuffy. Bella was the only one of them that was not drenched in sweat. The container rocked slightly with the motion of the ship, adding a slightly disorientating factor that made it even worse.

Bella lay on a blanket beside Edward, watching _Sesame Street _ on the portable DVD player Rose had brought for her. Jacob had been impressed with her thoughtfulness.

Bella was in the midst of learning the letter "W" and Edward kept replaying the segment so she could practice the sound.

"_Wuh_, walk," the narrator said, and an image of children walking down a hallway in a school accompanied it.

"Oouh, oo-alk," she repeated, and grimaced.

"Walk," Edward repeated, and pointed to Jacob so she would know that it was the action to which the word referred, not the children.

"_Wuh_, water." A sparkling stream appeared on the screen.

"Oouh, oo-ater." Bella looked frustrated that she couldn't make the sound properly.

Edward paused the video. "Ed-wuh-erd".

"Ed-ooah."

"Watch my lips, Bella." He pointed to his mouth and slowly made the "W" a few times.

She tried to form her lips properly and ended up with a cute pucker, as though she wanted a kiss. "Oouh ... wuh. Ed ... wuh ... Edwurr! Edwurr!"

"You did it!" Edward beamed at her. He impulsively kissed her on the cheek and then blushed fiercely. Bella smiled in delight.

Jacob wanted to be down there on the floor with them, celebrating her accomplishment, but he felt like a caged animal, and the cage seemed like it was shrinking. He reached the end of the container and spun to march back to the other end. He'd never been in jail, unlike his brother Emmett, so he'd never had the experience of being confined to a small area that he could not leave at will.

A half-forgotten memory of a school field trip to the surfaced in Jacob's mind. The class had followed their guide to the wolf exhibit, and while the other animals lazed in a patch of sunlight in the center of their large enclosure, one wolf paced rapidly back in forth in front of the thick glass window, to the delight of the zoo-goers who gasped and took close-up pictures of him. They couldn't seem to see his obvious distress as Jacob could. Four steps in either direction, and at each end, he touched his paw to small rock ledge at the bottom of the window frame. Back and forth, one paw shoving off that ledge. A bare earth rut was worn below the window, silently testifying to the amount of time the wolf spent at this every day. Jacob's eyes had met the wolf's for a frozen instant, and his young heart had broken for this majestic creature, imprisoned for man's amusement. The wolf seemed to be saying that a cage was a cage, no matter how large or "natural" it was. Jacob had been silent for the rest of the day, and his teacher had noticed that something was amiss. He'd lacked the vocabulary to explain to her what he was feeling, though Edward had understood. Edward always understood.

Jacob spun on his heel again to pace back to the other end of the container and Edward glanced up.

"Jacob? Why don't you sit down? I'll get you something to drink."

"Birr?" Bella suggested.

"No, we don't have any beer," Edward replied. "Good idea, though."

"There isn't enough air in here," Jacob tugged at the neck of his t-shirt, which felt as though it were strangling him. The shadows beyond the reach of the Coleman lantern seemed to be pressing in on him.

Edward put a hand on his shoulder and guided Jacob over to the vacant chair beside Rosalie. Jacob dropped down into the chair in a boneless slump and his breath came in short gasps.

"Is he okay?" Rosalie asked. She lounged in her lawn chair, sipping a can of Diet Coke through a straw, a cooling pack slung around the back of her neck, and her feet propped up on top of the cooler. She had a paperback romance novel in her hand and on its cover, a massively-muscled blond man held a woman whose heaving bosom seemed to be in danger of spontaneously bursting from her gown.

"Yes, he'll be fine. Come on, Jake. Relax, okay? We'll be out soon, I promise."

Rosalie swung her feet off of the cooler's red plastic lid and leaned forward as if to help while Edward fished inside until he found what he wanted. He held out a can of Pepsi, dripping with melted ice. Jacob didn't take it. He didn't want it. He wanted out of this damned box.

Bella sprang to her feet lightly and walked over to kneel beside Jacob's chair, her expression thoughtful. "Shaykob?"

He glanced at her and suddenly, he could not look away, as though his eyes had been bolted to hers. A strange dreaminess flowed over him and everything seemed distant and hazy, except for those light chocolate brown eyes which held his captive.

"Shaykob, okay," her voice seemed to echo in his head, filling his mind the way her eyes had filled his vision, until they were the only thing he could see.

And then, as though she had released him from some kind of spell, it was over. He blinked and sat back in his chair. He saw the Pepsi that Edward still held and took it from his hand. "Thanks, man."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." Jacob was surprised by it, but he did feel fine. The tight anxiety in his chest had eased and he even felt cooler. He slumped comfortably in his chair and watched Bella resume her place on the blanket. Edward settled down beside her. "Did your video end? Would you like to watch another?"

"Uggin," she said. She looked determined to get it right this time. Edward re-started the episode and sang the theme song with gusto, which made her giggle.

Rose hadn't even looked up from her book. Perhaps she was _blasé _in regards to the magic of vampires. She took another sip of her Diet Coke and looked up at Jacob. "What? Why are you staring at me?"

Jacob couldn't come up with a reason other than he liked watching her. And that just sounded way too creepy to say aloud. "I'm looking at your book," he lied.

She tapped the cover with one of her nails. "You read romance novels?"

Jake grinned at her. He had, actually. Quite a few of them. Other men didn't understand the incredibly valuable resources those books were, for their insight into the female mind and the bountiful tips on what women found romantic. "Surprised?"

"That you can read? Astonished." Rosalie grinned back at him. "If you like, I'll loan it to you when I'm done."

"As long as you'll help me with the big words."

She laughed and Jacob liked the sound of it. She didn't titter coyly. She tossed her head back and laughed like she meant it and he noticed how it made her eyes sparkle. Too bad she wasn't his type, he reminded himself.

There was a loud clatter at the door and the protesting squawk of metal on metal as the container door was unlocked. Bella moved so fast that she was a blur. She charged to the front of their little group and fell into a crouched fighting stance.

"No, Bella, it's okay!" Rose called and Bella straightened after a glance back at Edward and Jacob to make sure they concurred. They all walked to the doorway of the container, sighing in relief as the cooler air buffeted them.

The ship's deck lights were blazing. Jacob blinked as his eyes stung from the brightness. A lushly curved woman with dark brown hair stood in the doorway. She said something in Spanish, first to Rosalie and then to Edward, who answered her in the same language. They stepped outside.

"This is Captain Irina," Rosalie said, and introduced them one by one. Bella said "Ullo" when the captain extended her hand to her, copying what Rosalie and Jacob had done. The captain started to say something else, but then a man stepped from the shadows and she fell silent after a nervous glance in his direction.

"Oh, fuck," Rosalie muttered at the sight of him. Jacob tried not to stare, but the guy was _incredibly_ tall. Jacob was over six feet himself, but this man towered over him. He had to be close to seven feet tall. He was slender, with long, brown hair and the brightest green eyes that Jacob had ever seen, too green to be natural, surely. They seemed to almost glow in the deck lights.

"Hi, Jinx," Rosalie said, in the same tone she might have used to say, "_Hello, Smallpox."_

"Hello, Rosalie. How are you?"

"Sweaty and bitchy, Jinx," Rosalie said pleasantly. "So, if you don't mind ..."

"Humor me for a moment. I wished to meet the lovely Goddess."

Rosalie's eyes narrowed and she stepped in front of Bella. "How did you know about her?"

He chuckled. "Didn't Brady tell you that we're living together now?"

"No. I didn't realize that Brady had such bad taste."

"He tastes very good, actually." Jinx stepped around her and bowed to Bella. He spoke a few words and Bella's eyes widened and she gave a little cry of delight. She burst into a flood of words and Jinx nodded as he listened, then replied gravely.

"You know her language?" Jacob asked, stupidly.

"I do," Jinx tossed to him and went back to his conversation with Bella.

"What's she saying?" Jacob demanded. A hundred questions tumbled in his mind at once.

"Oh, this and that," Jinx replied. "Come inside and we'll get you situated in your cabins." He turned to stride away Jacob grabbed his arm.

"Please, we haven't been able to talk to her. There are some things we'd like to - "

Jinx waved a hand to cut him off and tugged his arm from Jacob's grasp. "The best way to learn a language is through immersion. She'll learn faster if I'm not translating for her." With that, he walked away, the captain and an eagerly chattering Bella in tow.

Jacob and Edward shared a glance of disbelief.

"What an asshole," Jacob muttered.

"Yes, he is," Rose said, with deep sincerity.

Jinx led their small group down a set of stairs into the belly of the ship, around a corner and down a long hallway before he stopped in front of a set of doors, each of which more a single-digit number. The captain handed a key to each of them. Edward translated for Jacob as she spoke. These were officers' quarters and they should be very comfortable, she told them. Should they need anything, they had only to ask. She shook hands with everyone and departed.

Bella traced her finger over her key and swung it around on its small diamond-shaped plastic keychain. Jinx took it from her and unlocked her door, pointing to the number on the door that matched the one stamped on the plastic. He followed her inside and shut the door behind him, so quickly that Edward actually bonked his nose on it when he tried to follow.

He stepped back, rubbing it and looked to Rosalie in alarm. "What should we do? Will he ... is she going to be all right?"

"He won't hurt her," Rosalie said. "Don't worry about that. She could break him like a twig if he tried to harm her in any way, but that's not his style."

Edward twisted the knob. It was locked. He raised his fist to bang on it, but stopped when Jacob tapped his arm. "Let her go, man. She hasn't been able to talk to anyone since she woke up. Maybe he'll explain some stuff to her. Let's go inside."

Edward didn't like it, but he followed the others into Jacob's room. The captain hadn't been exaggerating about the comfort of their quarters. It was a small suite, rather blandly decorated in shades of beige, but as well-appointed as a mid-range hotel. The bedroom and bathroom were to the right, through a set of double doors, and it had a small living room with a tiny kitchenette at the back. Two love seats sat parallel, with a coffee table between them. A flatscreen television was mounted on the wall.

"Who the fuck _is_ that guy?" Jacob asked as he tossed himself down on one of the love seats. Edward remained standing until Rosalie had taken a seat and then dropped down beside Jacob, across from her.

Rosalie rubbed her eyes. "He's fae."

"Gay?" Jacob had gathered that much from the conversation up on deck about Brady.

"No, _fae_. F-A-E. And he's bisexual, actually."

"What's a _fae_?" Edward asked. "I've only heard that word used in the context of fairy tales."

Rosalie just looked at him.

Edward laughed. "Come on. You're not going to tell me that guy is a _fairy_?"

"High Elf, actually."

"You've got to be kidding," Jacob snorted.

"I'm not joking, guys."

"That's ... That's hard to believe, Rosalie," Edward said and his expression revealed that he was skeptical to say the least.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "You have a five hundred year old vampire in the room next door, but you draw the line at accepting that the fae exist?"

"Good point," Jacob conceded. "How do you know him? Do the fae and vampires ... hang out?"

"Not usually. There aren't many of them left in this world."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "_This_ world? That implies another."

"I read your paper on String Theory," Rosalie said. "I know you're not exactly keen on the concept of parallel dimensions - "

"Oh, God." Edward rubbed his forehead.

"Can we skip that for now?" Jacob asked quickly, before this turned into a discussion of physics. "What does he _want_? And how is it that he speaks ancient Catalupan? And why is he such a dick? How do you know him?"

Rosalie held up her hands in a _stop_ gesture. "One thing at a time. I don't know what he wants and I don't know how it is that he speaks Catalupan, but he's incredibly ancient. As for why he's such a dick, well, elves tend to not like humans much. They're creatures of nature, protectors of the lower fae and keepers of the forest. They resent humans for destroying so much of the natural world."

"But they like vampires?"

Rosalie hesitated. "Vampires ... um ... They used to keep human numbers in check. The High Elves believe in something called The Balance. It's sort of like their religion, a system of checks and balances."

"Stasis," Edward said.

Rosalie nodded. "Exactly. And they believe this world is dying because The Balance has been so disrupted. They're not fond of Queen Victoria for her laws that forbid the killing of humans, which will only make the problem worse, in their eyes."

"Okay, who's this Brady guy he mentioned?"

"A vampire that I know through my document business. He owns this ship. The shipping company itself, that is. I knew they had port of call in Catalupa, so I called him when it began to seem unlikely we'd be able to get out of the country through normal routes. He owed me a favor."

"And you told Brady what Bella was?"

Rosalie looked uncertain for a moment, a vulnerability that Jacob wasn't used to seeing in her. "I didn't think it needed to be kept secret. I didn't know he was seeing Jinx."

"And Jinx? How do you know him?"

"Elves need papers, too, to function in the human world."

"What could he possibly want with Bella?"

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Subtlety was never Jinx's strong suit."

* * *

><p>The Dark Goddess allowed herself to be led into the chamber by the strange man, though it made her nervous when he shut out Edwurr. Hearing her own language again had been a shock, but a delightful one. On deck, he'd called her by her proper title, and told her his name was Jinx and that he'd wanted to meet her. He'd been very polite to her, but she was still leery of being shut away in a room, alone, with him.<p>

His scent was strange. He didn't smell like a human. He smelled like the forest, a heady blend of green things, damp tree bark and rich earth, a scent she remembered well from when she used to play in the rainforest as a child. She closed her eyes as a memory swept through her of the priest she'd loved as a father, Iatoay, jumping from behind a tree to snatch her up in his arms as she shrieked with laughter.

The tall man bowed to her again and addressed her with the proper titles, as he had done when they emerged from the metal box. "Dark Goddess, Mistress of Night, Lady of Rain, I am Jinx and I beg to speak with you."

"How do you know who I am, Shinx?" she asked. No one else seemed to know.

"I knew someone who dwelt in your lands."

She tilted her head. "You are not a god." She could hear his heat beating, the swish of blood through his veins. How had he lived so long?

"No, Goddess. I am a Bringer of Leaves."

Her eyes widened. She had heard of their kind, of course. One of them was worshiped by her people as the Goddess of Light, but she had never met her. The Catalupans believed that bringing them together would cause the end of the world. Their temples had been on opposite sides of the land to prevent their paths from crossing. "Is she still - "

"Yes, she is, though the people no longer revere her. She is fading as the forest of her heart-land vanishes."

She knew the Leaf Bringers had a symbiotic relationship with the rainforest. "Is it dying?" A pang of guilt made her wince. Had her long hibernation led to a shortage of rain?

"No, Goddess, it is being cut down by the humans. There is very little of it left."

She was startled. The forest she knew stretched for hundreds of day-walks in all directions, with only small parcels cleared for farming, and even then, the fields were only used for a few years before they were given back to the trees. How could it all be gone? Did these people really need so much wood? She hadn't seen any fires since she woke. "Why did they not wake me?"

Shinx looked sad. "People came from across the salt waters and slew great multitudes with disease and war. They destroyed the sacred texts and forced the people to worship their god. Your priests were put to the sword when they refused to abandon your worship and your temple was forgotten. It is their language that the people of your land speak today, and their god that is still worshiped."

Tears filled her eyes. The pile of skeletons on the floor ... Her priests were trained warriors, skilled with the battle-club, so that they might protect her as she slept. Had those from across the salt waters been so powerful, so unstoppable? If only her priests had been able to wake her, she might have been able to save her people. A sob choked her as she thought of the terror and pain they must have suffered.

What was her purpose now, if there was no one to worship her and her rain-calling was no longer needed? She was lost, adrift, _useless_ ...

Jinx correctly read her expression. "You are here for a _reason_, Goddess, even if you do not know it at the moment. Your fate has brought you here, preserved you, made you stronger for a purpose."

"I do not know what it is," she confessed.

He smiled. "I will help you find it."

* * *

><p>Dawn was fast approaching and the Dark Goddess was alone in her room. She sat on the foot of her bed, with her knees drawn up to her chest. No one had come to her room, so it appeared she was supposed to sleep alone in here, though the bed was large enough to fit many. She had accepted, reluctantly, that no one would cuddle her while she slept, but the idea of being completely alone in that great big bed was awful.<p>

She slid off the bed and went over to the small rectangular window, covered in that clear substance that Edwurr called "glass." There was a small lever on the side and when she moved it, the glass slid aside in a metal groove. A soft breeze swept into the room, scented by the salt water. Shinx had told her that Edwurr and Shaykob were taking her to their land, a far-away place. She found that comforting; they wanted to keep her with them, so they _did_ care about her, even if they wouldn't cuddle. Shinx said not to take it personally. Their culture didn't cuddle much, usually only after sexual relations, which she thought was very sad. The sky was beginning to lighten at the horizon. She needed to go to bed soon. Shinx had offered to cuddle with her, but something about him made her uneasy and she had declined.

She craned her neck outside the window and gasped at how far down it was to the water. She'd never been in a boat before, had never seen one this massive. It was larger than any building of her day, even larger than some of the villages she had visited. And it was made of metal! She wondered how it stayed afloat, especially with that massive stack of boxes on its top. More magic that she didn't understand.

She sighed. It was one of the million questions she wanted to ask, but probably by the time she learned their language, she'd have a million more. She closed the window and looked at the uninviting bed and her jaw tightened with determination.

* * *

><p>Edward heard his doorknob rattle and got up off of one of the love seats, where he'd been sitting while he used the coffee table and a pad of notepaper to scribble equations. Rosalie's claim of alternative dimensions had set off his imagination and his pen flew across the paper, leaving nearly undecipherable squiggles in its wake. He dropped it with a frown and went to the door.<p>

He opened it and fond Bella trying to use her key to unlock his door. The top of the key was bent from the pressure of her fingers as she'd tried to force it to work. She smiled at Edward and threw her arms around his neck. He blinked at her enthusiasm, and patted her back awkwardly until she released him.

"What is it, honey?" he asked.

"Bella, bed," she said, and pointed to his.

"You want to sleep in here?" he asked. He pointed to the bed and put his hands together under his cheek and tilted his head on them like a pillow.

She nodded, her eyes pleading. There was no way he could ever say no to that. "Okay." He went to pull the blinds and curtains over the window.

Bella she put her hand over the stomach and tried to say the word that they always said when she gestured like this. "Ongree."

He turned red but he sat down on the end of the bed and offered his wrist. She ignored it and tackled him playfully, knocking him onto his back while she braced herself up over him on her elbows. She gazed down at him. For an endless moment, their eyes locked and then she lowered her head. There was no pain as her teeth pierced the flesh of his throat, but he could feel her soft lips move against his skin as she sucked and sipped and the soft, swipe of her tongue as she caught a drop that escaped. The pleasure hit him almost instantly, staggeringly powerful, but what he focused on was the feel of her mouth against him. It was the most erotic moment of his life and he wished like hell he wasn't still wearing his jeans because the confinement was becoming very painful.

She drew back and their eyes met again. Her head lowered, but this time to touch her lips to his, as soft as the brush of a butterfly's wing. An involuntary sound came from him (_A_ _growl?_ _Did I actually just _growl_ at her?)_ and he took her lips with his own, wildly, without thought or reason, only a desire to taste and be tasted, to feel her soft lip under the gentle nip of his teeth, to mingle her air with his own. He rolled them over so that he was lying on top of her and buried his hands in her silken hair. Her hands slid up over his shoulders and he felt her nails dig into his shoulders through the thin fabric of his shirt.

That soft, metallic tang was his own blood, he realized, and was surprised to find that made him even hotter. Her tongue stroked his and her breath came in soft pants. _Oh God,_ how he wanted -

He drew back reluctantly and she made a protesting sound. He smiled gently and stroked back the hair that had been mussed by his hands. "I'm sorry," he said, but he wasn't sorry he'd kissed her. He was sorry to disappoint her again that he wouldn't go further.

She smiled back at him. "Edwurr, _okay._" She puckered her lips and made a little kissing sound. "Okay."

"You mean that it's okay for me to kiss you?"

She tilted her head questioningly.

He lowered his lips to hers again, sweetly, softly, lingering. "Kiss," he whispered, and his lips brushed hers as he spoke.

"Kiss," she sighed. "Okay, kiss." She closed his eyes and cupped a hand around the back of his head, drawing him down to her. He kissed her again and heard himself moan low in his throat. He realized that their bodies were moving together, mimicking that primal dance, and he stilled, his cheeks burning again. He turned his face away and her hand gently pushed his cheek back toward her as she threw one leg over his.

"Edwurr, okay," she said softly, and brushed her fingers over his forehead to push away his unruly hair. Her eyes full of gentle compassion and Edward had the feeling that she really _did_ understand him, in a way which didn't require language. She understood and she liked him anyway. Their lips met again, and Edward wasn't sure who had kissed whom, but he knew that it was the most heartfelt kiss of his life. Bella sighed as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep when the sun broke over the horizon.

* * *

><p>"<em>No, Bella!<em>" Edward screamed, but he was too late to stop her. She landed a few feet away, on her back, silent and still. Edward darted out into the hallway and pounded on Jacob's door. Jacob opened it, his brow crumpled in concern. He was wearing only a pair of pajama pants and his hair was as wildly disordered as Edward's.

"It's Bella." That was all Edward needed to say. Jacob sprinted from his room into Edward's, where he found Bella still lying the spot she'd fallen, white and motionless.

"What happened?" Jacob crouched down beside her and patted her cheeks. She didn't respond.

Edward's face was nearly as white as Bella's. "She put her key in the power outlet. I tried to stop her, but - "

"Fuck." Jacob patted her more firmly. "Bella? Bella, come on, wake up." His eyes lifted to Edward's. "She's not breathing."

"No, no, no," Edward whispered. He knelt down and pulled Bella's body into his arms. Tears gathered in his eyes. "Bella, honey, _please_."

"I'll call Rose," Jacob said. "She'll know what to do." He dashed over to the phone by the bed, picked up the receiver and dialed the number of Rose's room. She picked up on the second ring.

"Rose? Bella has electrocuted herself. She's not moving, not breathing. Yes, I know she doesn't _have_ to breathe. What? ... She stuck her key into a electric plug on the wall ... Stop laughing ... Stop laughing, dammit! This isn't funny!" He listened for a moment and then hung up the phone.

"Rose says she'll be fine, but she's coming to check."

A tear fell Edward's eye to splash on her face. He looked up at Jacob and saw him watching with an oddly wistful expression. Edward opened his mouth to speak but Rosalie's arrival threw the question right out of his head.

Rosalie knelt down beside Bella and peered at her for a moment. "She's fine, guys. Just knocked herself out."

"She seems ... dead." Edward's voice was unsteady.

Rose arched a brow. "She's a _vampire_. She _is_ dead."

"No, I mean _really_ dead."

Rosalie shook her head. "If she was really dead, she'd be nothing but a pile of ash by now. Seriously, guys. Calm down. She'll be okay, I promise. Electrocution won't kill a vampire. You have to decapitate them or burn them."

Edward winced.

Rosalie tilted her head. "You really care about her, don't you?"

Edward looked down at Bella's still, white face. "I do," he said softly. More than he'd realized.

Rosalie smiled, as if his reply had pleased her, though he couldn't imagine why. "Put her to bed," she advised. "She'll probably wake up soon, but it's possible it won't be until tomorrow evening, and she'll probably need to feed when she wakes."

"Want me to stay?" Jacob asked.

He was startled by the question because he had assumed that Jacob _would_ stay, would want to be at Bella's side. A vision of Bella on top of Jacob, drinking from him as she'd drunk from Edward this morning floated through his mind and he shook his head automatically, in rejection of it. Edward would give her what she needed, even if it took every drop.

Jacob nodded. "Call me if you need me, all right?"

"Thanks, Jake. Sorry about the panic."

"S'okay." Jacob shrugged. "I probably would have freaked out too ... in your position."

The last part was almost a question. Edward met his eyes and a moment of silent communication passed between them. Jacob nodded and rose to his feet. He clapped a hand on Edward's shoulder before he turned to Rosalie. "Let's go see if we can get some dinner. Edward, I'll bring you a plate."

"Thank you," Edward said, and he wasn't just referring to the food.

Jacob smiled at him, and there was a trace of that wistfulness in his eyes. "No problem, man. What are friends for?"

..

* * *

><p>AN: You can find the other version of the story (E/B/J) at  
>thewriterscoffeeshop (dot) comlibrary/viewstory (dot) php?sid=5702&ageconsent=ok&warning=2 


	8. Chapter 8

.

~.~

**Chapter Eight**

~.~

Jacob filled his plate from the chafing dishes set on tables along the walls and took a seat beside Rosalie.

She gave an impressed lift of her eyebrows. "I wouldn't have thought it was possible to fit so much food on one plate."

"It's all in the construction," Jacob said as he ripped one of his rolls in half to slather it with butter. "Pyramid shape, see? The chicken acts as a nice, solid foundation for building. There's a reason why so many ancient peoples all over the world built pyramids. It's because it's one of the most stable shapes, easy to build once you get the hang of it."

Rose shook her head. "And here, I thought it was aliens spreading the building prototype among the cultures they contacted. Don't tell me that documentary I watched on The History Channel led me astray."

He flicked a crumb of bread at her. Should have known a smart girl like that wouldn't need to be told about pyramids. She'd probably read more papers on the subject of ancient architecture than he had.

"Doesn't it bother you to have your food all mixed together like that?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Not really. Grosses out Edward, though. He can't stand to have his food even touching. Watch him next time we all have dinner together. He builds in a demilitarized zone between each food, and he won't eat it if it's touched something else."

"He's an odd duck," Rosalie chuckled.

Jacob's good humor vanished. "No, he's not. You don't even know him, so maybe you shouldn't judge what you don't understand, okay?"

Rosalie blinked. "Sorry. I didn't mean ..."

Jacob shook his head. "It's okay. Sorry I snapped at you. It's just ... Since we were kids, people have judged Edward, thought he was a freak. I overheard one of our teachers once, telling another teacher that she thought Edward was 'retarded' and should be in a special class instead of taking up space in hers."

"God, Jacob, that's awful! But didn't he get good grades?"

"Yeah. She thought I was helping him cheat. She moved our desks to opposite sides of the classroom and put a lot of effort into trying to catch us in the act. She kept calling on him in class to 'prove' that he didn't actually know the answers and it frustrated the hell out of her that she couldn't catch him cheating on the tests. She even made him take a few of them in the hallway after searching his pockets and shit. Then, she stood right in front of his desk and stared at him and when he couldn't take the test with her glaring at him like that, it was all the proof she needed."

"How old were you?"

Jacob took a bite of his potato-smeared green beans and chewed before answering. "About nine or ten, I think. Principal finally called her off. He thought Edward was a freak, too, but his mother, Esme, has a lot of clout. I told her what was happening and she made a phone call. The teacher was pissed and ignored Edward for the rest of the year, which made him a _lot_ happier, though that wasn't her intent."

"I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but, didn't Esme ever try taking him to ... see someone about his shyness?

"Oh, hell no." Jacob shook his head. "She wouldn't ever _dream_ of taking him to a psychologist or anything like that. Her brilliant son is perfect. One of the school counselors once watched him for a day and sent Esme a letter suggesting that he might be slightly autistic and she went ballistic. Poor woman almost lost her job, but Esme finally decided to be contented with a letter of apology."

"Is he?"

Jacob considered over a bite of chicken. "Maybe, I don't know. He's got some of the signs, such as the no eye-contact thing, being obsessed with details, and the lack of communication skills, but that could fit a lot of other things, too. He's just ... Edward, you know? In the end, it doesn't really matter _why._ I love him just the way he is, like my brother. More than my real brother, in fact."

"He seems to be doing well with Bella," Rosalie commented. She prodded the food on her plate with her fork. "He makes eye contact with her."

"He feels safe with her."

"So ... where do you think that's going?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. A relationship." Rosalie took a sip of her drink and eyed him over the rim of her glass. He noticed how pretty her eyes were, a deep, dark blue that looked almost purple in this light.

He forced his attention back to the subject at hand. "I can't say. Does he like her? Yeah, he does. I can tell. I've never seen him like this with any woman. But as for where it's going, that's up to him."

"She seems rather taken with him as well."

Jacob put down his fork. "What are you getting at, Rose?"

"How do you feel about that?"

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I'm not going let anyone get in his way. Understand?"

"Understood." A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

* * *

><p>Edward was dozing lightly when Jacob came in with his plate. The sound of the opening door woke him.<p>

"Hello," he said, woozily.

"Hey, I brought your dinner. The chicken is great."

"That's good." Edward looked down at Bella, who slept with her head on his chest. One of her legs was twined through his. Had she woken at some point, or had he pulled her into his arms? He couldn't remember. However it had come about, it felt so _right_ to have her soft, cool body tucked against his, her dark hair draped across him like a satin sheet. "I'll have it later."

"No, man, you need to eat it now. If you're going to be her own personal blood bank, you need to keep yourself well-fed."

Jacob was right. As loath as he was to disturb her, Edward gently moved Bella aside and slid out of the bed. She didn't wake. He yawned and padded into the living room and sat down on the love seat. Jacob handed him the plate and a set of silverware, wrapped in a napkin.

"Careful, it's hot. I just nuked it."

"Thank you." Jacob had arranged the food carefully for him, with an inch of clean space between each serving. He took a bite and his stomach growled in anticipation. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

"Listen, Edward, I want you to tell me if Rose gets all up in your shit about Bella, okay?"

Edward chewed, swallowed, and patted his lips with a napkin before responding. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno. She's just being weird about it. Asking a lot of questions. I don't know why she's interested, but it bears watching."

"She doesn't talk to me much when you're not around."

Jacob looked startled. "Really?"

"Just that one time in the car." Edward speared some more green beans on the tines of his fork. He changed the subject. "Did you see the elf again?"

"No, he wasn't at dinner. Rose says they don't usually eat food humans have prepared. Strict vegans, and it has to be food that's harvested without killing the plant, like nuts and berries."

A creature stranger than he was. How remarkable.

* * *

><p>Bella woke at sunset the next evening and sat up, looking a little bewildered to find herself in bed. Edward lay beside her, propped up against the headboard with pillows behind him, scribbling equations in a notebook that Jacob had brought him when he exhausted all of the paper in the room.<p>

"Good evening, Bella," he said, and laid the notebook aside. "How are you?"

"Bella _zzzzt_," she replied, and glared at the power outlet. "_Not_ okay."

"Yes, that wasn't a key hole." He got out of bed and took the lamp from the bedside table and removed the shade. He set the lamp on the end table beside the love seat and pointed to the button on the base. He pushed it and nothing happened. Then, he showed her the plug and bent to stick it into the outlet.

"No!" Bella cried and leapt off the bed. She moved so fast that his eyes couldn't track her. She grabbed him and pulled him away before he could insert the plug. "No! _Zzzzt_!"

"It's okay," he told her. "Really, it is. This is its intended purpose."

She watched him with doubtful eyes, no doubt prepared to yank him away if he started jittering from shock. He inserted the plug and turned on the lamp.

Curious, Bella poked the light bulb with her fingertip. "_Zzzzt_?" she asked.

He smiled at her, pleased she'd made the connection. "Yes, _zzzzt_ makes the bulb glow."

She pointed to the light on the ceiling. "_Zzzzt_?"

"Yes! That's right. Lots of things run off of it. We call it electricity."

"Eela -" She stopped and shook her head.

"Yes, that's a difficult one," he commiserated. "Call it 'power'. That works too."

"Parr."

"In some parts of the country, that's a perfectly acceptable pronunciation." Edward grinned and Bella grinned back at him.

"Wwwwash?" she asked him.

"No, _wash_ isn't run off of electricity. Well, the hot water is, but not the spout."

She shook her head. "Wwwash ... okay?"

"Oh, you _want_ to wash. Sure." He led her into the tiny bathroom. "There's only a shower here, but I think you'll like it." He turned it on and she gasped, thrusting her hands beneath the spray.

She pulled off her clothes in the time it took him to adjust the temperature. "Oh! I ... um ..." Edward said. His face burned and he backed up a few steps. He told himself not to look. A gentleman would not look. A gentleman would -

He looked.

Bella hopped into the shower cubicle. She laughed as the water ran over her body, a laugh of sheer delight.

He should shut the door and leave her to it.

He should turn his back.

He shouldn't look. A gentleman wouldn't look.

He looked.

Bella fully clothed was beautiful, as graceful and lovely as the swan for which Rosalie had named her on her identity papers. Bella nude, covered in rivulets and droplets of water, her hair soaked and slicked back to her head, was a goddess.

He stood there staring, his mouth slightly agape. He swallowed, hard, and tried to take deep breaths. But the steam seemed to intensify her spicy aroma and it only made it worse. His heart hammered.

Bella stared back at him as the water rained down, the only sound in the still room. She tilted her head, as though she were considering something, and before he could blink, she had grabbed the front of his t-shirt and hauled him inside the shower cubicle with her. She kissed him, her arms around his neck, her hands threaded into his hair as the water beat down on them. His t-shirt, jeans and shoes were soaked and he didn't care because he was kissing her back, kissing her like he'd thought of doing since he'd woken, kissing her like he was afraid he'd never get to do again when she'd been electrocuted.

She moaned softly against his lips and he tightened his embrace, fitting her form to his and her nails dug into his back through his wet shirt. He panted softly against her lips gasping for air between kisses, hungry mouths nipping, licking ... His tongue discovered that her fangs had descended when it pricked on the tip of one of the needle-sharp points. She groaned at the taste of that droplet of blood and sucked on his tongue. He slid his hands down her back to her thighs and lifted her up so that their faces were level, pressing her back against the tile wall. Their lips never lost contact.

With her body pressed between his and the wall, it left his hands free to explore, to touch, to caress. He found her soft and slick and he groaned loudly. It echoed in the tight confines of the little bathroom.

"Okay, okay," she whispered. Her own hands traveled to the waistband of his jeans, but she either couldn't figure out the button and zipper or was too impatient. She ripped them apart, the wet denim and cotton below tearing as easily in her hands as tissue paper. And then her hand was ... Oh, God, the feeling of her soft, cool hand gripping him ... An involuntary cry left him and he found himself arching into her movements, his hips suddenly acquiring a mind of their own, just as his hand had instinctively sought to give her pleasure, apparently successful at that mission, if her soft little moans were any indication.

As she stiffened in his arms and pulsed around his fingers, she bit down on his throat and a tsunami of pleasure crushed all conscious thought into oblivion. It lasted and lasted, then peaked again and then again, until he was trembling and weak and completely mindless. He hadn't known something like that was even _possible_ for a guy. If this was what women felt ...

He slid down to the floor of the shower cubicle, taking her with him. Under the warm fall of water, they snuggled silently. When sense and reason had sufficiently returned, he kissed her softly, a kiss of gratitude for the most intense experience of his life and something else ... a thought he was too shy to examine at the moment, but he thought that she knew, from the gentle understanding in her eyes.

Someone hammered on the door to his room. Edward kissed Bella again quickly and headed out to answer it. His knees were still wobbly, so he had to catch his balance on the door frame before proceeding. He opened the door and found Jacob standing outside. Jacob's jaw dropped as he took in Edward's appearance and Edward suddenly realized what he must look like, dripping water all over the floor, the front of his pants ripped open and a dazed expression on his face.

"Holy fuck, dude," Jacob said. He took in Edward from head to toe and a big grin blossomed on his face.

Edward pulled down the hem of his soaked t-shirt to cover himself. His cheekbones burned.

"Are you _okay_?" Jacob asked, amused.

"Um, yeah ... I, uh ..." Edward had forgotten most of his English. He shuffled awkwardly.

"I can tell." It seemed impossible, but Jacob's grin got even larger. "That good, huh?"

"You have no idea," Edward said fervently. He shook his head a little, to clear it. "What did you want, anyway?"

"To tell you something. Go smoke a cigarette, get dried off, and meet me in my room."

"I think this calls for a cigar."

Jacob laughed as he headed back down the hall.

* * *

><p>Bella wore a slightly smug expression as they headed to Jacob's room a little while later. She held his hand and kept tossing him little grins that made him blush but grin back at her. It had taken him longer than he expected for them to get ready because Bella had asked him to brush her hair and he got caught up in the task, brushing long after it was dry because he was fascinated by the silky texture and the shine.<p>

She wore a dress he'd bought for her on his Walmart excursion. It fit perfectly, nipping in at the curve of her waist to flare into a full skirt that fluttered around her thighs as she walked. Another thing he could have watched all day.

Jacob answered quickly after Edward knocked. He gave them both that wicked, knowing grin and Edward flushed and elbowed him in the side. "Knock it off."

"Can't help it. I'm happy for you, man." Jacob clapped him on the back.

Edward waited for Bella to take a seat, but she stood beside him patiently, obviously unaware of the rules of etiquette to which he was accustomed. He sat down and gestured for Bella to sit beside him. Instead she perched herself on his lap, which made Edward pause because he was not used to public displays of affection (and he did consider in front of Jacob to be "public"; anywhere outside the bedroom, actually) but he relaxed and put his arms around her waist. Jacob smiled approvingly as he flopped down on the loveseat across from theirs.

"I got an e-mail from Jessica," he said. Jessica was his TA. She was a quiet, studious girl who would make an excellent teacher some day. "I asked one of the crew, who speaks English, and he told me our internet connection is through a satellite and can't be tracked. So I got my mail, and found out some awesome news. You're not going to believe it."

"What?"

Jacob grinned. "Lauren has been put on administrative leave. The university started investigating her claims about me stealing the mummy. They have only her word that she found the watch in the temple because she removed it and never told anyone until after we'd left, and she was seen going in and out of my hut. Secondly, there's no proof there ever _was_ a mummy, except for the lack of dust in the sarcophagus, and as the university says, if there had been a mummy, there would be traces of decayed cloth, bits of dried flesh chipped off, that sort of thing, not just a clean spot. They suspect she set the whole thing up to discredit me."

"You're kidding!"

"Serious as heart attack, my friend."

"But what about us being_ incommunicado_?"

Jacob shrugged. "The university understands that. They wouldn't want to end up in a Catalupan jail, either. They've asked me to appear at a hearing next month. Jess is taking care of my classes until this matter is decided."

Edward rubbed his forehead. "She'll be _destroyed_. I can't help but feel bad because she's telling the truth. We_ did_ break into the temple and we _did_ steal the mummy."

Jacob's grin faded. "Shit."

"Even if she is a blackmailing bitch, it doesn't feel right to destroy her career."

"What would you rather do, Edward? Admit to breaking in but insist we didn't steal anything? No one will believe us. They'll fire both of us, and while I can take losing my job, I don't think you could. Your research would end. You wouldn't be able to use their facilities and equipment. And who would publish your papers?"

Edward's eyes widened and panic flitted over his features. His intelligence would virtually guarantee him a position at another university, but it would mean working around strangers, and they might not be as flexible in allowing him to float between departments as Austlin. For Edward, who didn't cope well with change, this was a serious problem. He hid his face in Bella's hair for a moment, while he pondered.

"I say we let her crash and burn," Jacob declared. "What does she contribute to the university or add to the sum of human knowledge? Nothing. But you ... you need to do your thing for the good of mankind and shit."

Edward cursed softly. Jacob was appealing to his selfish side, and it was working.

"And Bella, she needs you, too. If we get fired, it might not stop there. They're going to want to know what we did with the shit we supposedly stole and they're going to keep investigating, maybe get the cops involved. And if they start looking at Bella ... Well, you remember what Rose said about her papers."

Edward cursed again and tightened his arms around Bella. It was a long moment before he spoke. "Crash and burn."

* * *

><p>By the time Jacob left, it was late and Edward was exhausted, despite the nap he'd taken earlier. They had worked out a story between the two of them, one that might just work, while Bella had watched more <em>Sesame Street. <em>Edward could tell that the puppets and the over-sized, anthropomorphic animals confused her, but she learned a couple more words. The episode focused on the letter "J", which seemed to be more difficult for her than "W" had been, judging by the way she repeated "Sshhump" after an image of jumping children and then smacked her hand down on the floor in frustration when she couldn't force out the sound.

Edward went over and turned off the DVD player. "Bella, when you're getting frustrated, sometimes it's better to take a break for a while and come back to it later, okay?"

He knew she had no idea what he'd just said, unless she was catching the gist of it through his tone, but she nodded and said, "Okay."

"Goodnight, guys," Jacob said as he rose from the love seat. "Hey, Edward, come here for a sec."

Edward joined him at the door. "Yes?"

"Take these." Jacob pressed something into his hand and Edward looked down to see that Jacob had gifted him with a long rope of condoms.

"Wh- I - What makes you - I'm not going to - "

"Yeah, you probably are," Jacob said calmly. "And neither one of us knows jack shit about vampire physiology and be damned if I'll ask Rose about this particular subject."

"I doubt if she can get pregnant, if that's what's worrying you."

"We don't know what she can do, and we don't know how her body will react to yours. What if being a vamp is, like, a virus you can catch? The mother of all STDs."

"Christ, Jake," Edward muttered. He'd used one of these things exactly twice in his life. He took the end of the strand and it unraveled into a four-foot long chain. "Good God! I don't know who you've been talking to, but you have been grossly misinformed about my stamina."

"Remember the Boy Scout motto, buddy: '_Come prepared_'."

"You were never a Boy Scout."

"No, but I was a slut. I learned the value of having a lot of these things handy." Jacob grinned at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good night."

And now, Edward stood alone by the door, a lengthy rope of rubbers dangling from one hand. He swallowed. It was hard to force his eyes in Bella's direction.

Bella was watching him curiously, but when he didn't do anything, she pointed and said, "Bed?" And as she said it, she ducked her head a little as if feeling a bit of unaccustomed shyness, or fear she might be rejected. He knew that feeling all too well and he didn't want Bella to ever feel uncertain of him.

"Bed," he agreed, though his voice didn't sound like his own.

She smiled and hopped onto the mattress, sitting in the center with her legs folded in front of her. His mouth was dry and his heart hammered. Tanya had always said he wasn't particularly good at this and their sexual relationship had tapered off long before she broke their engagement. What if he didn't please Bella? His chest felt tight with anxiety.

Bella tilted her head, as she did when she was considering something. She picked up a pillow and hugged it to her body. "Edwurr." She held her arms out to him and he went into them gratefully. A snuggle, he could handle. He draped the condom rope over the night stand and kicked off his shoes before he lay down. Bella laid her head over his heart and curved her body into his. "Edwurr, okay."

He smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then rubbed his cheek against her silky hair. "Most definitely okay." He put his arms around her and listened to the stillness of the room. He could hear the soft drone of the engines and it was a lulling sound and before he knew it, he had drifted into sleep.

He woke with his arms full of soft, naked Bella, and oh God, it felt so right, so natural, like breathing air. Her lips belonged with his and his hands belong to her flesh, her silky soft skin, so cool and smooth, like a river of silk. Hands explored, caressed. Mouths traveled. And it was beautiful.

His own clothes were disposed of quickly and he tore one of the condoms off of the chain. She watched with confusion as he clumsily donned it, but then he was back in her arms and nothing really mattered but the feel of his flesh against hers, the sweetness of those soft, eager sounds she made. He was not clumsy now. There was no feeling of awkwardness or anxiety. That was far away from him now and their bodies found the perfect rhythm, His hands and lips found the perfect spots, and it was more than he ever could have imagined, as though everything he had ever experienced before had been a thin, hollow substitute, like listening to a symphony on a gramophone instead of a Bose. And now, he was drowning in the full, lush swell of the music that carried him into a bliss indescribable.

He looked down into her eyes as it swept over him, meeting her gaze without hesitation, without shyness or avoidance. And then he knew why that was possible, why he felt this powerful connection to her: _he loved her._ He felt almost relieved by the discovery. That was why this was not just a joining of flesh. It was an expression of his love for her. He didn't question how it was possible after having known her for such a short time or why it had happened, because it was a simple, immutable truth, like the laws of thermodynamics, which had been truths long before anyone had codified them. It was simply _there_, and it was like nothing he had ever felt before.

He lay with her for a few moments afterward, soaking in the feel of her skin against his, before he rose to go dispose of the condom. "Edwurr?" she said and pointed to it with a confused expression.

"It, um ..." How best to explain it? He held out his arms in front of him like a rounded belly. "No baby."

Her lips quirked. She passed a hand over her stomach and shook her head.

"And no ..." He lifted his hands to his mouth and made vampire fangs with his fingers. She stared blankly for a moment, and then figured out what it was he was trying to indicate. She burst out laughing. She was still laughing when he shook his head in amusement and headed to the bathroom.


	9. Chapter 9

.

~.~

**Chapter Nine**

~.~

The Dark Goddess went down the hallway to Rose's room and rapped on the door. In her hand, she held the flat box containing the shiny discs. Its cover bore an image of that strange, green, fuzzy creature that lived in a metal container and wore its lid like a hat. She still had no idea what these creatures were supposed to represent. Some of them looked like animals, but others were indecipherable, vaguely humanoid, but in colors that didn't exist in nature. One of them, a purple man who wore a cape and frequently said, "Ah, ah, ah", had fangs like the Dark Goddess, and she wondered if he was supposed to be a god._  
><em>

Rose opened the door. When she saw the Dark Goddess, her face became carefully impassive. "Bella," she said in greeting, her voice cool and remote.

She liked Rose's dress and wish she had the words to tell her, words that might make Rose less distant from her. The only woman of the Dark Goddess's acquaintance in this new world and the woman didn't like her. She had to have given offense in some fashion, but the woman had to know that the Dark Goddess didn't know the rules of their society and any rudeness was unintentional.

The Dark Goddess held out the box. "More," she asked, a word she had learned last night from Edward. He was still asleep back in their chamber, exhausted. She actually felt a little smug at wearing him out so thoroughly. She had suspected already that he hadn't had much experience, but his previous lovers must have been very selfish because he seemed astonished and delighted at her willingness to pleasure him. They had both fallen asleep after dawn and she had woken early, in the late afternoon, and decided to spend the time learning more of their language.

Rose turned and retreated into her room. She did not invite the Dark Goddess inside. She returned momentarily with another box. "No more," she said.

The Dark Goddess nodded. "Tankoo." She turned to head back down the hallway when she saw him. Shinx was in the hallway, waiting for her. She inclined her head to him as a mark of respect. A Goddess was obliged to bow to no one, but Leaf Bringers were the nobility of the fae and she had discovered over the course of her long life that often, a little courtesy goes a long way.

It appeared true in this case. He smiled as he bowed to her and recited her titles. "I wished to speak with you, Goddess, if I might? May I show you to my quarters where we may talk in comfort?"

She nodded and followed him. His rooms were at the far end of the hall, nearly identical to her own quarters. She sat down on one of the long, soft chairs.

"You were visiting Rosalie, I noticed," he said as he took a seat across from her.

She held up the little flat box. "I'm learning their language." She hesitated, and then confessed, "I don't think Rose likes me much."

"She is envious of you, Goddess."

How strange. "Why?"

"Because she believes the man she wants wants you."

The Dark Goddess shook her head. "I fail to see the problem."

"Humans are jealous creatures, Goddess, especially in this age. They believe that they can have but one lover at a time, with the goal of forming a permanent, exclusive relationship."

"They cannot have another lover? _Ever_?"

The Leaf Bringer's lips twitched. "Only one at a time, Goddess."

"That's ridiculous!" she blurted.

He shrugged. "That is humans. They have many bizarre rules which run contrary to their instincts and nature."

"But in my time ... " she protested and then let her voice trail away. They were no longer in her time. Her world was dead and gone.

He nodded. "I know, Goddess, but they have a different religion now, one which has spread all over the earth."

She felt uneasy. Her people believed that her ability to make it rain and to move things without touching them was dependent on the power she gained from her people's worship. The Leaf Bringer had told her that her priests were slaughtered, but surely there were some out there who still followed her way ... She didn't want to ask the question because she was afraid of the answer.

She pushed the thought away and turned her attention back to the elf. "Why did you come to me, Leaf Lord?"

He studied her for a moment. "Have you thought about the things of which we spoke of when last we met?"

She nodded. She did not offer the conclusion to which she had come: that her time had long passed and so had her purpose.

"I believe you have a special destiny, Goddess. You know that some of my kind have the ability to see things which may come to pass, don't you?"

"I do." They were said to be able to hear whispers of the wind in the trees.

"We have a prophecy that a Dark Goddess will restore The Balance."

She blinked. "Why are you telling me this?" Most of the time, the Leaf Bringers refused to divulge the fates, for to tell anyone was to risk fate being changed.

"Because I believe it is you to whom the prophecy refers, that you are the one who will restore what _should_ be."

"How will I do that?" She was no longer a Goddess to them. She had no power, no influence. She couldn't even speak a complete sentence in their language.

"That you must discover on your own."

She tilted her head. "Is your obfuscation a conscious choice, or is it merely your nature?"

He smiled slightly. "A bit of both, perhaps. You will discover what it is you need to do as you learn more about the human world of today, when you have seen what they have done to it. You must come to the decision on your own."

"And if I decide differently? To leave things as they are?"

He shrugged. "It is only one of many possible fates. You must decide which of them to embrace."

Her destiny had never been her own. From infancy, she was groomed to become the next Dark Goddess. She'd had some choices, of course, such as what to eat or wear, or whom to take into her bed, but she'd never had the option to refuse to become vessel of the Goddess, to choose a human life of marriage and motherhood, should she prefer it. She stared at the Leaf Bringer in shock at the idea of being able to decide something as momentous as her own destiny and a slow smile stretched her lips.

* * *

><p>Jacob was getting ready to shower when someone pounded on his door. He cursed under his breath and turned off the water, then pulled on his pajama pants. "Coming!"<p>

Edward stood on the other side of the door, his eyes wide with panic. His hair stood up, more wildly disordered than usual. "Is Bella in there with you?"

"No, man, haven't seen her."

Edward swore. "I woke up and she was gone! I don't know where she is!" He turned to go and Jacob caught his arm.

"Wait, don't panic. Remember, we're on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic. She couldn't have gone far."

"But what if - "

"Edward, she's very strong and damned near indestructible, remember? No one on this ship can hurt her."

Edward relaxed, but only marginally. "I have to go find her. The sun isn't completely down yet. What if she- Jake, I've got to go look for her."

"No, not yet. What if she comes back and you're not here? Give her a bit of time first and see if she comes back. You could be worrying for nothing."

Edward rubbed his forehead. He stepped inside the room, but kept the door ajar so he could continually glance down the hall.

"Have a good night?" Jacob asked casually, as he shrugged into a t-shirt.

"Yes, I slept very well, thank you. I had a lovely dream, actually." His gaze grew wistful. "Bella and I were in a park, eating ice cream and there was a little girl ... Our daughter, I think."

Jacob snorted. "I wasn't asking you how you _slept_."

"Oh. I ... Well ... Do we have to talk about it?" Edward stared at the toes of his socks. He wore one brown, one black.

"Not if you don't want to," Jacob replied. Finished dressing, he flopped down on one of the love seats.

Edward still couldn't look in Jacob's direction. He'd never been comfortable talking about sex and probably never would be. "She, um ... I don't need those ... _things_ you gave me. She can't have children and I can't catch what she is ... that way."

"She can't have kids, huh? That's a shame. I know you wanted a kid someday. I guess you could adopt."

"Yes, I'm sure she'd go over well with a social worker," Edward chuckled. "Provided Bella didn't eat her first."

Jacob grinned. "That could be hot."

"I - that's not - I meant - "

"I know. I'm just teasing you." Jacob paused for a moment and then said softly, "Edward, are you happy?"

Edward nodded and ducked his head. His cheeks flushed a little. "I ... Jake, I love her."

Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I know that."

Edward's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, _you know_?"

"I knew you loved her when you laid your equations aside for her." He'd suspected it earlier, when Edward had told him he kissed her because, as far as Jacob knew, he'd never initiated a kiss in his life.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Edward was indignant.

"I knew you'd figure it out soon enough. Do you understand now why I always said Tanya wasn't right for you?"

Edward nodded. "Yes, I do." He looked down. "I really didn't think that this kind of emotion existed outside of movies and those trashy romance novels you read."

"I told you that you should read them. You missed out on a lot of valuable information.".

"Jake? What if she doesn't love me back?"

Jacob shook his head. "No worries there, man. If she's not there already, she will be soon. I've seen the way she looks at you."

Edward rubbed his eyes. "God, I know nothing about women."

"You _live_ with one!"

"Yes, but I didn't ... " Edward switched over to rubbing his temples. "Tanya was never right for me, but I wasn't right for her, either. I didn't try to make her happy. It was just ... convenient for both of us. I don't know how to court a woman or keep her happy."

"Yeesh, Edward, it's not like they're a alien species. You took some of the same anthropology courses I did. You could write a damn thesis on the courtship rituals of the Ik people but you don't know anything about your own?"

"Not really."

"Romance novels," Jacob sang.

"Can you at least give me some advice?" Edward asked plaintively.

"Gifts," Jacob said promptly. "And not shit you buy. Like, a wildflower you stopped to pick along the road." Though, in Edward's case, it would be more like ordering his driver to stop so that he could could get out to pick a flower. "You still remember how to make those origami animals, right?"

Edward nodded. Of course he did. Edward never forgot anything he learned. He'd spent one summer engrossed in learning how to craft intricate little sculptures of paper. His infinite patience was well-suited for the craft. Esme had been irritated he was "wasting" his time on it and bought him a high-powered telescope. The distraction technique worked.

"Make her one of those little animals every day. It'll charm the fuck out of her, I guarantee it. Girls like stuff that makes them feel like the guy was thinking of them all day."

"I _do_ think of her all day."

"Well, then all you have to do is show her that. Do shit for her, like pick up stuff at the store you know she needs. Pay attention when she says she likes something. Vacuum the living room for her."

"Vacuum? We have a housekeeper, Jacob." Come to think of it, Jacob didn't think he'd ever seen Edward in the general vicinity of a vacuum cleaner, let alone attempting to operate one. Likely, an idea would occur to him, and he'd wander off, leaving the thing running in the middle of the floor. Okay, scratch that and the roadside flower picking.

"I'm just throwing out suggestions here. I'm sure you can adapt them. Girls really like little romantic gestures like that. You're not going to impress her with jewels. She was a goddess. She probably had tons of that shit."

A door opened down the hall and Bella stepped out. Edward sighed with relief and rushed to her side.

"Edwurr not okay," she said in alarm when she saw his expression. She cupped his cheeks in her palms.

"I was worried about you," he said. "I couldn't find you." He turned in a circle and put out his hands. "No Bella."

"More '_Sunny days' ..._" she sang, and held up the DVD case. Then she pointed to the door "Shinks."

"Jinx wanted to talk to you?"

She nodded. She looked guilty for upsetting him. "Edwurr okay?"

Edward hugged her. "Yes, honey, I'm okay. Just ... don't wander off on me like that."

"See? Safe and sound," Jacob said. "Let's get you back to your room now. You have a lot of wooing to do, Edward."

"Are you using _woo_ as a euphemism for sex?" Edward put his arm around Bella's waist and led her down the hall.

"Actually, no, I was using it in terms of courting. But I'm sure there will be a lot of fucking involved as well." Jacob grinned and Bella gave a little giggle that told him that she was understanding at least a little of this conversation, if only through the tone and inflection of their words.

Edward's voice was low. "Tanya said ..."

"I don't give a good goddam what that vapid twat said. And you shouldn't either. Bella likes you just the way you are, and that's something that any of us rarely find in life." Jacob took a deep breath. Edward simply had no confidence in himself and Tanya certainly hadn't been good for his self-esteem. "Tanya was only interested in what you could give her. Bella likes you for _who you are_, Edward. She doesn't know you're rich, or that your mom is best friends with the First Lady, or that you're some sort of a super-genius. You're just _Edward_ to her. Kinda shy and quiet, but nice once you get to know him."

They reached Edward's room door and Jacob stopped. "Now, listen, Edward, you've got a total of eleven days until we reach the U.S. Use them wisely and she'll be head-over-heels for you by the time we get home. I guarantee it."

"Jake ... I'm scared," Edward admitted. "I've never had anything to lose before. And now that I do ..."

"That's what you're not getting, man. You've already won."

Edward shook his head. He unlocked the door and the three of them went inside. They sat on the love seats and Bella began to wage quiet war with the plastic wrapping on the DVD box.

"You've already got the girl liking you," Jacob said. "That's ninety percent of the battle. Now, just be nice to her. That's all that you have to do. Treat her well."

"May I?" Edward asked Bella and took the DVD from her hands. He found the tab and peeled away the wrapper and she looked at him like he was a miracle worker. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and skipped over to the DVD player. She leaned back against the bed and watched the screen intently. It had only taken two demonstrations before she was able to work the machine herself.

Edward pulled his attention back to Jacob. "But I don't know what kind of stuff is _nice_," he said.

"Dude, you just _did_ something nice."

"What, in unwrapping the DVD?" Edward looked at him as though Jacob had lost his mind.

"Yeah. Common courtesy. You already have it, so don't worry." Jacob stood. "Though telling you not to worry is an exercise in futility, I know." He patted Edward on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine. I'll bring you some dinner later, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you."

He went to the door, where he paused and turned back for a moment. "Edward?"

"Hmm?"

"Your socks don't match."

Edward looked down at his feet and then up at Jacob and he laughed. He bent and peeled them off.

Jacob watched from the doorway as Edward rose to his feet and went over to sit down beside Bella. Cautiously, he took her hand in his own. She smiled at him and they both turned to watch the show.

Jacob gazed at them for a moment longer before he departed. He wished that he could have something like that some day, but he had intentionally set up his life to avoid it. Maybe he wasn't meant for something like that. But it sure seemed nice.

He didn't want to go back to his room and it wasn't yet time for supper. He wandered slowly down the hall and up the stairs. There was a metal door at the top which led to the deck. He stepped out into the cool of the evening. The last traces of the sunset were fading from the sky and Rosalie stood at the rail, watching it. She had a cigarette between her fingers. Jacob took it from her and puffed.

"I didn't know you smoked," he said and handed it back to her. She waved it off. He leaned his forearms onto the rail and looked down at the water.

"I don't, usually," she said. "I bummed a pack from Captain Irina."

He studied her for a moment. "You look a little down. Everything okay?"

She gave him what was probably supposed to be a smile, but it was more of a grimace. "Yeah. Just some things I have to accept."

Jacob took another puff from the cigarette and flicked it over the rail. He watched it tumble toward the water. "Anything I can help with?"

She seemed to come to some decision "Yeah, actually, you can." She turned to face him, and her dark blue eyes pierced into his. "Are you in love with Bella?"

He was startled. "What would give you that idea?"

"Answer the question, Jake."

"No, I'm not in love with her. I like her. I care about her. But she's Edward's."

"If she wasn't?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Rose!"

"Just answer me."

He shoved away from the railing and raked his hand through his hair. It was Edward's gesture, when words escaped him or the frustration was too much for him. "I don't know. How could I answer that? What the fuck do you _want_?"

"This," she said, and kissed him.

Holy sweet Jesus, could that woman kiss. He felt it all the way down to his toes and he kissed her back with enthusiasm for a moment before he forced himself to break away. Rose wasn't a casual fuck. She wouldn't be content with just once-and-forgotten. "I can't," he said.

Her jaw tightened and her eyes narrowed. "Just as I thought."

"No, you don't understand. It's not Bella. It's me."

She rolled her eyes. "A variation on the old, '_It's not you, it's me.' _Yeah, I've heard that one before. Didn't believe it then, either."

"It_ is_ me. I've never _had_ a relationship before, and you're not the kind of girl I usually ..." He trailed off, as his thoughts scattered. In the fading light, with her blonde hair streaming behind her, she looked like one of those carved and painted wood statues of women that used to adorn ship's prows. A goddess of the sea.

"I know your reputation, Jake. I know how you usually operate."

He blinked. "What? How?"

She turned and leaned back against the rail, her elbows propping her up. "I don't work with anyone unless I have them checked out first. I know about your one-time-only policy and I know that Lauren Mallory is pissed at you because she thought she'd be the exception. I even know that your poor little TA has suffered a terrible case of unrequited love for you for about two years now, but that she's just about the only female faculty member under forty that you _haven't_ fucked."

"Then, you know why I'm saying that I can't."

"No, you're saying that you _won't_." Her eyes met his squarely and Jacob was the first to look away.

"What would you want with me anyway, Rose? I'm pretty much broke. I don't have any fabulous career prospects and I don't even own a car."

"The hell with you," she spat and charged through the door back inside the ship.

"What? What did I say?" he shouted after her. _Goddammit_. He yanked the door open and ran after her. "Rose! Rose, wait!"

She didn't even answer. He caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She wrenched away, her eyes blazing sapphire.

"What?"

"I can't believe you," she hissed. "You think I care about your _salary_? Whether or not you get a promotion or have a nice _car_? Thanks, Jake. I had no idea how low your opinion of me was. Well, you couldn't have made it any more clear, I assure you." She marched down the hall and pulled her key from her pocket.

"Wait, Rose, I'm sorry ... That came out wrong. I mean that I didn't have anything to offer a girl."

"No, you sure don't." She rammed her key into her door and wrenched it open. Jake stuck his foot between the door and the frame when she went to slam it behind herself and yelped when she nearly crushed his foot.. "Move!" she snarled.

"Not until you talk to me."

"You and me? We've got _nothing_ to say." She kicked his foot out of the way and slammed the door.


	10. Chapter 10

.

~.~

Chapter Ten

~.~

Whatever the ship's doctor had given him, it was good shit. Jacob was as high as a kite and apparently completely untroubled by claustrophobia, which was good because they'd be in the cargo container for longer this time, until the middle of the night when there would be less people around the freight storage yard where their container would be unloaded from the ship. The doctor had promised the shot would last until they were let out, and Jacob seemed to be a happy camper.

He was sitting on the blanket on the floor with Edward and Bella and they were all working on Bella's English. She had progressed very well over the last week and a half. Her pronunciation of certain sounds still needed work, but she had progressed to short sentences.

"Bella want ongree," Bella tried.

"No, not exactly. You don't _want _hungry."

She thought about it for a moment. "Bella am ongree?"

"Very close, but remember what we talked about, using 'I' instead of your name?"

"I am ongree."

Jacob beamed at her. "Very good!"

Edward kissed her cheek. Bella's eyes sparkled with the praise.

Edward wouldn't have thought it was possible to love her more, but every day, his feelings for her became stronger. Last night, she had laid in his arms and said his name softly. When he turned to look at her, she had laid her hand over her heart and made a gesture like she was giving it to him. His own heart had felt like it stopped.

"Love," he said softly.

"Bella love Edwurr," she replied.

"And I love you." He'd kissed her and realized that he was having the happiest moment of his life. He tried to soak in every sensation every sight and sound, because this was a memory he would want to cherish forever. She loved him. He needed nothing else to be the happiest man on earth.

Jacob had been right: all he had to do was be himself. And miracle of miracles, she_ liked_ him. Even though he sometimes lost track of what he was doing and would wander off to write in his notebook, or become fascinated with an item and have to take it apart to minutely examine the pieces. She didn't seem to mind and was always waiting for him with a smile when he came out of the trance-like states he sometimes entered when the fascination struck him.

He made the little origami animals that Jacob had suggested and he'd been right about her reaction, too. She was thrilled with them, especially the little frog he'd made for her that hopped if you pressed on its back. She would sometimes sit beside him and watch as he made them. There was something very satisfying in giving her a gift he'd crafted with his own hands.

He'd like to tell Jacob of his success, but he hadn't seen much of Jacob or Rosalie over the last week. In Jacob's case, it was because he was giving Bella and Edward's new relationship time and space to grow. He only stopped by to drop off plates of food for Edward before departing just as abruptly as he'd come. Edward wasn't quite sure about Rosalie. She had kept to her rooms, from what he heard, emerging only to grab a plate from the mess hall and take her food back to her quarters. Jacob wouldn't meet Edward's eyes when he relayed that information, and so Edward suspected something had happened there, something that neither Jacob nor Rosalie wanted to discuss.

Rose was seated in the very back of the container in a lawn chair. A lamp was balanced on the arm of it and she was apparently engrossed in her book. Edward didn't think she'd looked up from it in hours. He saw tears glimmer on her cheeks once or twice, so there must have been sad parts in that romance novel.

Fortunately, it was much cooler in the container this time. A bit on the warm side, but not enough to make them sweat. Jacob fished another Pepsi out of the cooler. He had dry-mouth and this was his third one. Edward wondered what he was going to do when drinking all of that liquid caught up to his bladder.

"I am Bella. Ni-too meechu."

"Nice ... to ... meet ... you."

Bella repeated the words slowly.

And suddenly, something went wrong. _Very_ wrong. The door to their container screeched the protest of rusty metal as it was opened but it was hours too early. The four of them exchanged glances.

"Fucking Border Patrol," Rosalie sighed. "One percent of containers! _One_! And they had to pick ours."

Edward held Bella tightly. He wasn't going to let them take her. If they tried to deport her, they'd have to send him with her. What if they put them in a jail cell? One with a _window_? A cold stab of fear froze his gut as he tried to think of which of his lawyers to call.

"You in there, come out with your hands up!" The command was repeated in Spanish. There were only two agents standing outside the container door.

"Fuck!" Rose whispered.

"It okay," Bella assured them.

Edward led Bella to the door, following Jacob and Rose. He hopped down first and then lifted Bella out. There was a slight drop because their container been placed on top of what appeared to be a stack of wood shipping pallets.

One of the agents shoved Jake roughly against the side of the container and began to frisk him for weapons. Jake, still high and happy, grinned at him and his grin became wider and wider, the more the agent patted. Disconcerted, the agent fumbled to a halt and retreated. He turned to Rosalie and began to pat her down.

"Hey, you can't frisk her!" Jacob protested. "You're supposed to get a girl agent!"

"Shut up, asshole," the agent barked.

Bella stepped up to the agent in charge, who had just lifted his walkie-talkie to call for backup and locked eyes with him. "It okay," she told him. "We okay. You go now."

He nodded slowly. "We'll go now. Anderson?"

"What?" The second agent was lingering just a bit too long over his search of Rose.

Bella caught his gaze, too, and repeated her command. Both of the agents wandered away, their expressions empty and dazed.

"Well, that was interesting," Rose commented as they watched them retreat.

"What do we do now?" Jacob asked.

"Call someone to come get us, I suppose, before someone else spots us. It has to be someone who doesn't mind skirting the law a bit."

"Emmett," Jacob said immediately. He pulled out his cellphone.

* * *

><p>They went back into the container and pulled the door shut behind them. They couldn't latch it from the inside, of course. Bella might have been able to, but Edward decided too many things could go wrong with that plan. They settled down to wait, all of them tense and jumping at any small sound they heard. With a loud clank and a creak, the door opened and a flashlight beam hit them. Edward squinted and tried to shield his eyes, but he couldn't make out the figure who stood there.<p>

"Emmett, you dumbass, shine the light down," Jacob snapped.

"Oh! Sorry," Emmett replied. He dropped the beam to the floor and Edward could make out his large form in the doorway.

Edward helped Bella to her feet and walked with her, hand-in-hand to the door. Emmett stared because he'd never seen Edward so much as touch a girl in front of others before. "Hey, Edward," he said, blinking. "Who's this?"

"Bella Cullen, my wife," Edward said, pride in his tone. He smiled down at her and she grinned back at him and he couldn't help but kiss those smiling lips.

"Bella _Cullen_?"

"Emmett, would you _move_, for chrissakes?" Jacob groused. "We've been stuck in here for hours and I've gotta piss."

"Sorry!" Emmett repeated and backed away. Jacob hopped down fro the container and ran around to the side. They all heard his sigh of relief.

Rosalie stuck out a slender, white hand to be helped down from the shipping container and as soon as he saw her, Emmett looked like he'd been hit between the eyes with a two-by-four. His whole face went slack and his eyes widened. He helped her down and his hand lingered on her arm.

Rosalie didn't seem to notice. "Where's our car?" she asked.

Emmett had to gulp a few times before he regained the power of speech. "This way."

"What'd you drive?" Jacob asked as he rejoined them. He accepted a moist towelette packet from Rosalie's purse and thanked her.

"Dad's van."

"What? That piece of shit?"

"Dude, you call me in the middle of the night and tell me to come pick you up at a _shipping yard_, and tell me you have three other people with you. They're not all going to fit into my Rabbit. What other choice did I have?"

"Do you even know how to _drive_ that thing?"All of the vehicle controls were on the steering wheel. Jacob's father was paraplegic, due to a drunk driving accident over two decades ago. Edward was pretty sure he still drove drunk simply because he'd never seen Billy Black sober. Fortunately, his driving was limited since he was on disability and didn't have a job to drive to and said he couldn't afford the gas. (And Jacob had been known to quietly remove his spark plugs if Billy did suddenly have an inkling to go somewhere.)

"Sure. I've picked up Dad a few times when he was ..." Emmett clamped his lips together quickly and looked abashed, as though Billy Black's drinking problem wasn't common knowledge.

He led them through the darkened yard to Billy's van, which was about two years away from being able to apply for "classic" plates. It was a sickly gray with dark blue stripes along the sides. Rust blossoms adorned the bottom of the vehicle. He slid open the side door, revealing Billy's wheelchair lift. Edward and Bella squeezed in behind it and sat down on the back seat, which had been repaired in several places with duct tape. A _Playboy_ magazine stuck out of the seat pocket in front of them. (Edward did not want to speculate as to why it was there.) Bella plucked it out of the pocket and began to study the photos of naked women with rapt fascination.

"Hi, I'm Emmett." Emmett stuck out his hand and Rosalie shook it briefly.

"Rosalie," she said in a curt tone.

"Nice to meet you, Rosalie."

"I am Bella. Nice ... to ... meet ... you," Bella recited and went back to ogling the naked ladies.

"Are you hungry? Maybe we could go grab a bite to -"

"No, thank you," Rosalie cut him off. "I just need a ride to the airport, thanks."

"Airport? You're leaving?" Emmett looked crushed.

"No reason to stay." Rosalie sat down on the seat in front of Edward and Bella and pulled out her iPhone.

Emmett cast Jacob a pleading glance. Jacob sighed inwardly but said, "Don't leave yet, Rosalie. We may need more of your help"

She stared at him coolly. "I cannot imagine why."

"I dunno. She may need dental records or some shit. Just don't go yet, okay?"

Rosalie sighed herself. "Fine. But you're paying for my hotel."

"Sounds fair."

She smirked. "Wait until you get the bill."

Emmett swung himself up behind the wheel and Jacob settled in the passenger seat. "Where to first, Bro?"

"Take me to my apartment and you can drop Rosalie off at the Hilton on the way to the 'burbs."

"Is the Hilton all right with you, Rosalie?" Emmett asked as he started the van. It coughed and shook like an elderly dog trying to dry its fur. Bella gave a little squeal of delight at the bouncing.

"Fine," she replied, her attention still on the phone in her hand.

They pulled out onto the highway. The van began to vibrate alarmingly as they accelerated to highway speeds.

"Is anyone hungry?" Emmett asked, raising his voice to be heard over the rattle. No one replied, but the question had really been addressed to Rosalie. Emmett tried again. "So, Rosalie, do you work at the university?" He watched her in the rearview mirror.

"Not exactly." Rosalie was engrossed in her email and her tone was absent.

"Jesus Christ, Emmett, watch the road!" Jacob shouted.

The van was half-off the highway and headed for the ditch that ran beside it. Emmett instinctively stomped for a brake pedal that wasn't there and jerked the wheel hard, to the left, which swung them right into the path of an SUV in the oncoming lane. The brilliant glare of headlights filled the van.

Everybody screamed. The van lurched up onto two wheels when Emmett jerked the wheel in the opposite direction, missing the SUV by millimeters. The driver of the SUV expressed his displeasure with the incident by laying on his horn. Its tone rose and fell as it flashed by and Edward thought dreamily, _The Doppler effect._

They all screamed again as the van spun out, tires smoking and squalling, careening in dizzying circles across the highway for an endless moment. Emmett finally remembered that the brake was on the steering wheel and he applied it and brought the van to a shuddering halt on the shoulder.

The panicked gasps for air were loud in the sudden silence.

"More!" Bella cried and clapped her hands. "More!"

"Here, Bella, look at the naked girls," Edward said and handed her the _Playboy._

_"_Fuck me _sideways_, that was close," Jacob rasped. "I think that qualifies as a Near Death Experience."

"Yup," said Emmett and put the van in park. "And I just had me one of those pithanees."

"Er ... what?"

"Epiphany," Edward supplied.

"You drive." Emmett said to Jacob and got out of the van and circled around back to the sliding door. He climbed inside, barely managing to squeeze his huge frame past the wheelchair lift to flop down on the seat beside Rosalie. "You wanna go out with me?"

"Yeah, sure," Rosalie said faintly, her eyes wide and dazed.

"Awesome." Emmett leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms over his chest and grinned.

* * *

><p>They say the definition of insanity is to try the same thing over and over and expect different results. Jacob stared stupidly at his key. His mind confirmed that, yes, it was his apartment key. He looked up at his door and confirmed that, yes, it was his apartment number.<p>

But the key would not turn in the lock.

_Does not compute_, his brain said.

He looked up and spotted his landlady coming down the hall. "Mrs. Cope! I'm glad to see you. My key doesn't work."

"It doesn't work because you've been evicted," she informed him. She crossed her arms over her ponderous bosom and glared at him. In one hand, she held a feather duster like a royal scepter.

"Did you pay the rent?" Edward whispered to him.

"It still should be that auto-deduct thing," Jacob said, bewildered.

"It's not the rent," Mrs. Cope snapped. "These apartments are for students and faculty _only_."

"I am faculty," Jacob protested. "I'm on administrative leave right now, but I'm still faculty."

"You'll be fired soon enough!" she spat. "Everyone knows what you did to Miss Mallory, that poor, sweet girl, leaving her to take the blame for your shoddy work! She could lose her job because of _you_."

"Jake, maybe we should just go," Edward said.

"What about my stuff?" He had very little of value, truthfully. The only item he really cared about was his grandfather's hunting knife. He was going to be pissed if something had happened to it.

"Your ... _belongings_ are in the basement. Except for that filthy mattress of yours, which I threw out." Her eyes dared him to object, and he considered it because there was nothing wrong with that mattress unless she was referring to invisible slut cooties or something like that. But Edward shook his head and he decided that there was no point.

They trudged down the stairs behind her into the dank, dark basement. She pointed at a pathetically small stack of boxes that had merely the number "201" written on the side, as though she couldn't even bear to write his name. He and Edward grabbed one each. They'd been poorly packed and were overly heavy. Mrs. Cope, Queen of Passive-Aggressive revenge. Bella picked up two. She smiled sweetly at Mrs. Cope as they passed. "Tankoo!" And Mrs. Cope had at least the grace to look embarrassed.

"What the hell?" Emmett asked as they came back out with the boxes. Edward and Bella were supposed to be saying goodbye, not helping him move. Bella handed the boxes to Emmett and he staggered under their weight.

"What about your furniture?" Emmett asked as he shoved them through the open doors in the back of the van.

Jacob said nothing.

"Come on, man, where's the rest of your shit?"

"I didn't have any furniture," Jacob said, and his face burned. "I hadn't replaced the stuff after you moved out."

"Why didn't you tell me? I don't know why Tanya insisted we take it in the first place because she didn't even _want_ that stuff. I could have - "

"No big deal. Just drop it." Jacob dropped his box on top of the others and they all climbed inside. "Let's get Rose to her hotel and then we can - "

"Oh no," Rosalie said. "This show just keeps getting better and better. Got a guest room, Edward?"

"Yes."

"I'll just crash there for the night, if that's all right with you."

"Fine."

Edward fished in his wallet and pulled out his key card as Emmett pulled up to the gates. He pushed it in the slot and the light turned green before the wrought iron gates began to retract. They were cast in the shape of vines and leaves, and he had tried to insist to Tanya that putting a big gold-plated "C" in the middle of each was tacky, but she wouldn't listen to him.

Emmett pulled the elderly van up to the front door and turned it off. It died with a shudder and a wheeze.

"T'at was fun!" Bella declared and patted the van as they climbed out of it. Edward took her hand in his own with a smile and kissed it.

"Welcome home, Mr. Cullen," said Felix, his household manager (Edward hated the word "butler"), as he opened the door. Edward wasn't surprised to find him awake and on-duty. Felix never seemed to sleep and seemed to have a sixth sense for when he was needed.

"Good evening, Felix how are you?"

"Quite well, sir. Will we be having guests overnight?"

"Yes, if you please, we ne -"

"_WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN_!" Tanya shouted.

Edward jumped in surprise and turned to face the staircase. Tanya was stomping down the stairs so hard that her spindly little designer heels were in danger of snapping. Her tiny dog bounced down the stairs beside her and barked at her nemesis.

Edward gave Noodles a glare and said, "Tanya, what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I _live_ here!" Tanya's eyes narrowed with malice as she looked at Jacob before surveying the other two people standing in the doorway and then took in Edward and Bella, and their clasped hands. "Who's _she_?"

"Oh, this is gonna be good," Jacob said and rubbed his hands together.

"What the hell is going on, Edward?" Noodles sniffed Bella and barked in alarm. Rose had told Edward that dogs hated vampires. "Shut up!" Tanya shouted, but the dog just barked louder, if those squeaky little yips could be considered a bark. Bella glared at the dog and it fell silent. Noodles dashed to hide behind Tanya's feet.

"I'm wondering that, myself. You broke our engagement, said to expect to find you gone when I returned home."

"Oh, I didn't mean that, and you know it," Tanya said dismissively. "Who is that girl, Edward, and why are you holding her hand?"

"She's my wife. Isabella Cullen."

Tanya didn't move for a long moment. She didn't even blink. Didn't seem to breathe. "What?" she said, quietly.

"My wife. We got married in Catalupa."

Tanya paled, white under her layers of spray-on tan and thick cosmetics and she teetered on her tiny heels. She caught her balance and seemed to gather her poise (such as it was) at the same time. "Don't be ridiculous, Edward. You wouldn't do something like that."

"But I did."

"I've got wedding pictures!" Jacob said cheerfully, and he slid one from his wallet to hand to her. "You can keep that one," Jacob advised. "I have more copies."

Tanya stared down at the photograph. Blinked. Stared. "This isn't funny, Edward."

"It's not a joke, Tanya. You broke our engagement before we left, and I found someone else."

"That's not _possible_," she argued.

"That he would find someone new?" Rose said. "I dunno. He's kinda cute when he does that blushing thing."

"Nobody asked you, skank," Tanya spat.

Rose lunged for her and Jacob caught her around the waist and spun her back to stand behind him. "Whoa, no getting blood on Felix's nice, shiny floors."

Felix seemed to consider the matter and then gave a tiny shrug.

Tanya switched tactics. She gave Edward her cajoling smile, the one that had always induced him to buy insanely expensive luxuries, to forgive her "indiscretions", and he suddenly realized that she thought he was genuinely moved by them. "Listen, honey, it's okay. We can fix this. We'll get it annulled and you can send her back to wherever she came from and everything will go back to the way it was." She lifted a hand to cup his cheek and that's when Bella got _pissed._

"_EDWURR_ _MINE!_" she shouted and lashed out at Tanya with her power. It knocked Tanya off her spindly little heels onto her ass. She bounced and skidded across the marble floor into the vestibule. Bella stamped her foot and pointed at the door. "You go! You go and not come back!" She whipped her gaze to the tiny dog, sitting in the center of the floor and looking as dazed as its mistress. The dog slid across the floor until it bumped into Tanya's thigh.

Tanya stared at her, her jaw flopping open to turn her mouth into a slack gape of astonishment.

"Your purse, miss," Felix said, having retrieved it from the sideboard. He dropped it on Tanya's lap.

Tanya scrambled to her feet, but she was blocked at the inner door of the vestibule by Felix. "I'm sorry, miss, but the lady of the house has made it clear that your presence is not welcome." And with that, he shut the door in Tanya's face.

* * *

><p>"Has she left yet?" Edward asked Felix when he brought in a tray of drinks for the weary travelers.<p>

"No, Mr. Cullen. She's still sitting out front, in her car, crying. Should I call the police to have them escort her from the property?"

Edward sighed. "No. She'll get tired of it at some point."

The doorbell rang. "Excuse me, sir."

"Who could it be at this ungodly hour?" Edward wondered. He didn't have long to wait to find out. Esme Masen Cullen sailed through the doorway into the parlor. Even in the middle of the night, she was perfectly groomed. Her hair was smoothly caught in a bun at the base of her neck and her makeup was light and subtle. The dress she wore had a matching overcoat that she must have declined to give to Felix when she entered.

"Edward!" She smiled warmly and opened her arms and he went into them for a hug. "Hello, Mother."

"Good evening, Mrs. Cullen," Jacob said politely. She gave him a smile and said something about being glad to see him again. Perfectly correct, perfectly polite and as insincere as crocodile tears. She shook Rosalie's and Emmett's hands with the same courtesy, always the lady, even in bizarre situations with people she disliked. She turned back to her son.

"I'm so glad you're home," she said, attempting, as always, to smooth his unruly hair. "Now, what in the world is going on? I just got an emergency call from Tanya, and she told me some bizarre story about how you've thrown her out onto the street in the middle of the night because you brought back some ... well, I won't use the racial epithet she applied, but a Catalupan girl that you're claiming is your _wife_."

Edward took a deep breath. "Yes, mother, I got married. And I didn't expect Tanya to be here because she told me she was breaking off our engagement when I left."

"How many times has she told you that?"

"Six or seven, I think," Edward admitted.

"Oh, Edward." Esme smoothed his hair again and smiled sadly. "Why did you take her at her word this time?"

Indeed, why had he? Perhaps because he wanted it to be true. He flushed and didn't answer, his eyes glued to the toes of his shoes.

"What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?" Esme sighed.

"No trouble, really." He heard a sound and looked up to see Bella descending the staircase, apparently returning from her enthusiastic exploration of the house. She was followed by Felix, who had a huge, silly grin on his face, obviously charmed by her.

She reached the bottom of the stairs at the same time as Esme. She held out her hand to her and said, with perfect precision, "I am Bella. Nice to meet you."

Esme clasped her hand in her own and turned to Edward. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Oh, Edward," she whispered. "She's exactly the kind of girl I always hoped you'd marry."


	11. Chapter 11

.

~.~

**Chapter Eleven**

~.~

Esme kissed Bella on both cheeks and took her hands in her own. "My goodness, Edward, she's _lovely._"

Edward smiled. "I think so. Bella, this is my mother."

"Muvver?" Bella repeated with a blank look.

Edward mimed rocking a baby and pointed to his mother. "Her name is Esme."

Esme smoothed Bella's hair as she did with her son's and smiled. Bella smiled back, which Edward was relieved to see because he wasn't sure how a Goddess would take having a stranger touch her so familiarly. "She can call me 'mother' if she likes."

"She ... uh ... she doesn't speak English, mother. We're working on it."

"And doing so well!" Esme praised. "She has the poise of a queen. She must be from a very fine family."

Edward panicked. His eyes flicked to the others with wild desperation. He was terrible at lying. Jacob stepped up to the plate. "Her family is gone, Mrs. Cullen."

"Oh," Esme gave her a consoling _tsk_. "Political wars? I remember reading that there was turmoil somewhere in South America in the newspaper. I'm so sorry to hear it, my dear, but you have another family now." She hugged Bella and Edward's jaw dropped. He turned his head and stared at Jacob, whose own expression was similar.

"Did Bella put the vampire mind-meld on her?" Jacob whispered.

"No, I don't think so. Mother didn't have that dazed look that people get when she puts the whammy on them."

Esme looked back over at her son as she drew away from Bella. "Let's go sit and speak for a bit before I go. I know you're exhausted, but we need to make a few plans." They trooped dutifully behind her back into the parlor. Esme had apparently decided that Jacob, Emmett and Rose should be privy to this discussion, which made Edward question whether Bella really _had_ done something to Esme's mind, since she usually would not discuss anything in front of "outsiders."

Edward took a seat beside Bella on the small sofa across from Esme, who had spotted a glass containing a splash of whiskey on the tray beverages brought in by Felix. She picked it up and took a sip. "I'll get right down to it, Edward: I think you should give Tanya the house."

"Why?" Jacob blurted before Edward could gather his startled thoughts enough to make a response. "She's not entitled to anything!"

Bella's eyes flicked back and forth to each speaker like she was watching a tennis match.

"She was making all sorts of wild threats when I arrived," Esme replied. "She said she intended to go to the press and embarrass you by revealing intimate details of your life together. We'll offer to give her the house, and in exchange, she will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which will forbid from speaking to the press about you or your relationship."

"But, I_ live here_," Edward protested. A statement like that might mean little to others, but for Edward, who did not cope well with change, it was a serious matter.

"I know, darling, but surely you don't _want_ this garish monstrosity?" Esme looked at the red velvet and gilt wood chair upon which she sat with a grimace of distaste.

"That's not the reason, Mrs. Cullen," Jacob interjected but if Esme was annoyed by his interruption, she made no outward sign of it.

"I know. I know how stressful it will be for you to move, Edward, but I truly think it's for the best."

"I object on general fucking principle. Uh, pardon my language, Mrs. Cullen, but after all the shit she put him through, she doesn't deserve_ anything_."

"No, she doesn't, Jacob," Esme said. "But your sense of injustice needn't be aroused. I doubt she'll realize what a white elephant she's been given until it's far too late. Between the taxes and the utility bills, she'll be fortunate not to end up _owing_ money by the time she manages to sell this tacky horror."

Emmett gave an appreciative whistle. "You are one devious woman, Mrs. Cullen."

"Thank you, Emmett," she said graciously. "At that point, she will probably decide to ignore the non-disclosure agreement. It's a civil matter, after all, and the only thing we can do is sue if she violates it. Fortunately, I have friends on the boards of most of the major media companies, and I can ensure she'll find no buyers for her story there. I cannot control the tabloid media, however, but I have a few connections and believe we'll be given enough warning ahead of time so that we can launch a preemptive counter-attack."

"_Counter-attack_?" Edward repeated. "Mother, I really don't want to be involved in a slander war."

"Of course not, darling. Of course you wouldn't want to be a part of it. You have far too much tact and class for such sordid dealings. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. By the time I'm done with her, no one will listen to a word she has to say."

"Um, Mrs. Cullen, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd think that _you_ had too much class and tact to be involved in that sort of thing," Jacob said.

Esme gave a tiny smile that chilled his blood. "I didn't get to the unassailable position I enjoy today by being World Pattycake Champion, Jacob."

"No, I suppose not."

She smiled at Edward, her eyes a bit wistful. "Your father always urged me to restraint because I'm a bit too fond of scorched-earth tactics. In this case, however, I'm pulling out all of the stops. Not because it's necessary, but simply because I'll enjoy it too much to resist temptation."

"Ma'am, if I was wearing a hat, I'd take it off in salute," Emmett said in awe.

Esme didn't address that. "I am going to need your assistance as well, Emmett. As of now, you are Edward's official bodyguard. Your task is to keep that woman far away from my son. She'll try to put herself in a compromising position with Edward so that it can be caught on tape. She'll be counting on the fact that he's too much of a gentleman to knock her away. I don't think you have that problem."

"No, ma'am, I do not."

"And you," she pointed her gaze at Rosalie, who jumped slightly when she found herself to be the center of attention. "I want you to guard my new daughter-in-law. Tanya isn't violent, but I have no doubt she would be willing to spat with Bella for the cameras or play mean pranks on her if she gets the chance. You will both have licenses by morning."

Rosalie's eyes sharpened with professional interest.

"I doubt highly that it will ever get to the point of a physical altercation, but if it does, you'll both be covered, legally-speaking."

Rosalie tilted her head. "How did you know my name, Mrs. Cullen? We've only just been introduced."

Esme smiled at her. "You're not the only one with connections, my dear. The owner of the shipping line - "

"You know Brady?" Rosalie blurted.

"It's a very small world," Esme replied.

_His mother knew a vampire._ Edward could do nothing but stare. Did she know what Brady was? But before he could think of a delicate way to phrase the question, Esme rose to her feet. She kissed both her son and her new daughter-in-law on the forehead. "Good night, my dears. Edward, we have an appointment with your attorney at six P.M. to discuss the sign-over of the house. Will Bella be joining us?"

"She's very jet-lagged and she's having trouble adjusting to the new time zones," Jacob said quickly. "She usually doesn't wake until early evening."

Esme's face showed no reaction to this odd news. "Pity, I would have liked to take her shopping." She eyed Bella's dress. "That color is all wrong for her, and the fabric ..."

"Her luggage was lost. We had to replace her clothing quickly, so Edward went to Walmart for her."

"Well, at least that explains the color choice, if it was Edward who did the shopping. I'll have my P.S. visit her tomorrow evening."

"P.S.?"

"Personal shopper. She'll get Bella's measurements and study her coloring so that she can get her some decent clothing. I'm sorry to sound snobbish, but we can't have the new Cullen bride walking around in clearance rack couture." She smiled at everyone and said, "Good night. Get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Bye, muvver," Bella said and Esme hugged her. Tears glittered on her lashes. Edward didn't hear what Esme whispered into Bella's ear, but it made Bella smile.

* * *

><p>Since Edward would be occupied with the visit to the lawyer, Jacob was given the task of taking Bella to their new home the following evening. Edward had told him it was only temporary, but he knew how Edward was: once he settled in, he wouldn't want to move again. Emmett went with Edward to the meeting. He was already taking his bodyguard duties seriously, or at least as seriously as Emmett could take anything. He had acquired a suit somewhere (slightly ill-fitting) and a pair of dark sunglasses. Jacob didn't laugh. At least Emmett was serious about gainful employment for once. Maybe, just maybe, it would keep him out of jail for a while.<p>

Bella and Edward had stayed in one of the guest rooms. On his way to knock on her door, Jacob saw, Felix in the room that Edward had shared with Tanya and he was singing a merry tune as he supervised the packing of Edward's possessions. It was a task that the household staff was more than happy to do, especially since they'd been told that everyone who wished to come along would have employment at Edward's new abode. None had elected to stay.

Bella answered his knock wearing only one of Edward's t-shirts. Jacob gently steered her away from the doorway before the staff got an eyeful and plucked one of her dresses from her suitcase. She was still wiggling into it when there was a tap at the door. Jacob glanced at Bella to make sure she was decent and opened it. A young woman stood there, holding a tray. A silver dome covered the dish and a prettily folded napkin lay by the silverware. If she was surprised to find Jacob in the bedroom of the new Mrs. Cullen, she gave no indication.

"Hi," Jacob said. "What's this?"

"Good evening, Mr. Black," the girl replied, a hint of nervousness making her voice tremble.

"Jacob."

"Yes, sir. Jacob. I'm Angela. I ... uh ... I brought Mrs. Cullen some breakfast. I know she's sort of off-schedule because of the jet-lag, so I thought ..." Her voice trailed away.

"That was thoughtful of you, Angela. Thank you." Jacob took the tray from her and Angela gave him a smile.

"Mrs. Cullen - I mean the _other_ Mrs. Cullen - sent her personal shopper. She's waiting in the parlor."

"Thanks. Tell her we'll be down in just a bit, after Mrs. Cullen has her breakfast."

Bella poked her head around Jacob's torso. "Tankoo!" she said with a little wave.

Angela smiled again, a little relieved, and Jacob had to wonder just how bad Tanya had been that the staff was afraid of doing something nice. He sat down on the end of the bed and removed the dome. "French toast! Awesome." He took a big bite. Bella eyed the plate curiously. "Honey, you don't know what you're missing with that all-liquid diet of yours."

She shook her head and grimaced. "Stink bad."

He wondered what smelled so unappetizing to her, but then he figured that she probably thought blood smelled delicious, and the smell of it had always made him a little nauseated.

He finished as quickly as he could and carried the tray with him when he and Bella went down the stairs. Angela spotted him and rushed to take it from his hands. She looked embarrassed again, as if she had somehow compelled him to carry it by her lack of attentiveness. He tried to tell her it was all right, but she simply blushed and bolted.

The personal shopper was a tall, svelte creature with smoky eyes, exactly the type Jacob would normally pursue, but Esme might have a choice word or two to say about that. Her name was Bree, and she was briskly professional. Jacob could tell that Bella didn't like her much because of her brusque manner, but she submitted to being measured from head to toe. When she'd finished, Bree whipped out a camera without warning and took a photo of Bella. Jacob's eyes went wide when she snapped the picture, because suddenly, the old myth about vampires not showing up in pictures surfaced in his mind and he wondered what the hell he was going to do if she frowned at the image in the viewscreen because Bella hadn't appeared, but apparently, everything was normal. Bella wanted to see the item was that Bree had pointed at her, but Bree put it back into her pocket and was out the door before Bella could even ask. It gave Jacob a great idea: Bella would love a digital camera.

Since all of their things were being packed and moved for them, all Jacob had to do was summon a cab. Bella hopped in and pressed her hands to the plexiglass separating the back seat from the driver and watched the little red digital numbers on the meter. "Pay to go," Jacob said to her and she nodded.

The apartment to which they were headed was on the top floor of the Masen International Building. Edward's father used to stay there when he was "working late". Edward had confided to Jacob that he had never known if this was the true reason, but if there had been another, Carlisle had been extremely discreet about it. The building itself was a city landmark, constructed in dramatic Art Deco style. Jacob had only to say the building's name and the cab driver knew where to take them. Bella stared out the windows at the city streets, bouncing back and forth across the seat to peer outside. Jacob lowered the windows so she could stick her head out and crane her neck to see the tops of the buildings. The cab driver watched her in the review mirror, amused by her enthusiasm.

Esme, as the last surviving Masen, was sole owner of one of the largest privately-owned companies in North America, which had never gone public because the Masens abhorred the idea of being held accountable to stockholders or a board. Edward had broken Esme's heart by being utterly uninterested in running the company. The world of business bored him and he was indifferent to acquisition; he saw no point in doing things simply to make more money when they already had more than they needed. Nevertheless, Edward still had an official title in the company and an office he had never visited, because Esme still held out stubborn hope.

The cabbie pulled up in front of the building and they slid out of the passenger-side door. Jacob turned to pay the driver and that's when he heard Bella's squeal of delight. He whipped his head around and groaned. "Oh, Bella, NO!" He thrust a fifty at the cabbie. "Keep the change," he called, and ran after her.

Bella had discovered the three-tiered fountain in front of the Masen Building and she was splashing around in it, giggling when the timed spurts of water shot into the air. She dashed to stand under them and was already soaked to the skin.

"Ah, fuck," Jacob muttered. "Bella, come out!"

"No!" she laughed. "I am fun!"

He smiled. Yes, she was. He glanced around the small plaza. After business hours, this district was mostly empty, but there were a few people with briefcases who stared openly at the woman splashing around in the fountain. Jacob imitated Esme's haughtiest stare, the one that said, _You couldn't possibly be thinking of questioning me._ It worked; they dropped their gaze and scurried away. The only one who continued to watch was a homeless guy sitting against the wall, who apparently found Bella's enjoyment of the fountain to be the funniest thing he'd seen in years. Jacob took his shoes off before he stepped into the pool. _Fuck, that's cold. _

He waded over to where Bella spun beneath a sheet of water pouring from the top tier. "Come on, you," he said, but he couldn't keep a smile from his face. Her sheer delight was contagious. "Not for washing, Bella." He scooped her up and carried her out of the fountain. He stood her on the paving stones while he pushed his feet back into his shoes, feeling like an idiot that he hadn't removed his socks as well. So much for keeping his shoes dry.

She had crouched down and scooped out a handful of pennies. "What?"

"They're for wishes," Jacob said. "People make a wish and toss a coin into the water." She might be familiar with something similar. After all, the practice was a hold-over from ancient, pagan times, throwing offering or sacrifices into a body of water so that the gods would answer prayers. Of course, today people tossed their small offerings into a clean, tile-lined pool of chlorinated water instead of a murky bog or lake, and made a wish instead of praying to a water god, but the concept was the same.

Bella closed her eyes and opened her hands to let the coins fall back into the water. He wondered what her wish had been.

The homeless guy over by the wall was still laughing. It caught Bella's attention and walked over to him while Jacob was trying to wring water from the lower legs of his jeans. Water spurted from her shoes with every step she took. She pointed to his sign and called to Jacob, "What say?"

"It says, 'Hungry, please help'."

She gave him a cajoling glance. "Shaykob 'elp?"

Jacob sighed and reached into his pocket. All he had was a twenty. He bent down and stuffed it in the guy's collection cup.

"Okay now?" Bella asked the homeless man.

The homeless man wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. "Yeah, honey, I'm fine."

"I am Bella," she recited. "Nice to meet you."

"Paul," he replied, and stuck out a hand tentatively. He wasn't sure she'd take it because most people don't wish to have any contact with the homeless.

Bella took his grimy hand within her own and shook it politely, just as Edward had taught her. "Paa no okay, say to Bella," she instructed.

He smiled and Jacob saw that he was touched by her kindness. "I will, honey. Thank you."

"Wekkom," she replied, and headed for the door, leaving a trail of dripping water behind her.

The woman manning the front reception desk actually dropped the phone she was holding when she saw Bella and Jacob. "Can I ... help you?" she finally managed. She peered around them to look out the front windows, probably to see if it was raining.

"Jacob Black and Bella Cullen. I believe you're expecting us."

"Bella _Cullen_?" She stared at the wet, bedraggled creature who had noticed one of the fake potted plants and was poking at it with her finger, a small frown on her face.

"Yes, Edward Cullen's wife." Jacob stressed the last word.

She looked frankly skeptical. "May I see some ID?"

Jacob produced both his and Bella's driver's license. The receptionist studied them for a moment and then handed them back, along with a key card. "Don't use that set of elevators, there," she said. "Go around the corner and you'll see a single elevator. That's the one which goes to the penthouse."

"Thank you."

"Tankoo!" Bella added. She smiled so warmly that the woman at the desk had to smile back, even as she shook her head at the trail of drips that Bella left behind on the gleaming marble floor.

Bella balked at the elevator and Jacob had to coax her to get inside. She didn't like them. Likely, she didn't understand them and he wasn't sure how to explain them, other than, "They go up on a rope," and he wasn't sure that would give her confidence in their safety. Maybe Edward could draw her a diagram later.

The penthouse was huge, occupying the entire top floor. It had an open floor plan in the main rooms, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that provided a breathtaking view of the city. It was there that Bella went as soon as they came through the doors, awed at the vista before her. She shook her head slightly, as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Jacob went into one of the bedrooms and sorted through the drawers. All of the garments inside were brand new, put there in case Mr. Cullen or one of the company's guests needed something. He found a t-shirt and a pair of shorts with a drawstring waist, which he brought to her so that she could change. Knowing she would probably strip on the spot, he spun and headed back to the bedroom to look for something to change into himself because he was nearly as soaked as she was from carrying her out of the fountain, but none of the clothes were large enough to fit him except for a bright red pair of what looked like shorts from a basketball uniform. He was still fishing around in the drawers for another option when he heard her soft cry of horror. He rushed out and found her holding a lump of sodden paper in her hand, the remains of one of Edward's origami animals that she had been carrying in her pocket when she jumped into the fountain.

"Frog dead," she whimpered. She looked at Jacob pleadingly.

"Maybe we can fix it," he said. He took the soggy thing from her and went into the kitchen. He got one of the gold-rimmed plates from the cabinet and put the frog in the center of it and shut the plate in the microwave. _Five minutes should do it._ He turned it on and went back into the bedroom to change into the shorts. He unbuttoned his clammy jeans and pushed them down.

The first indication that something was wrong was when Bella said, "Oooh, pretty!"

_Oh, shit. That can't be good_. He turned and tried to run for the door and tripped because of the jeans hobbling his ankles. He hopped and yanked and swore as he pulled them off and then ran for the kitchen where he saw brilliant, popping flashes in the interior of the microwave. "My God, it's full of stars," he croaked. Just as he reached it, the microwave gave one last blinding flash and went dark and still. Jacob sighed and pulled the door open.

The good news was that Bella's frog had dried. The bad news was that it had caught on fire. The gold rim of the plate was mostly gone, as though it had been zapped off of the porcelain. He turned around and showed Bella the black lump.

"Frog not okay," she said sadly.

"No, it's not. I'm sorry, Bella. I'm sure Edward will make you another."

She shook her head, and he understood. It wouldn't be the same.

"I'm really sorry."

She nodded. "Shaykob okay."

The apartment door opened and Edward entered. Bella skipped over to him and gave him a big kiss that left him blushing and dizzy-looking. He took her hand and walked into the kitchen. He glanced at the carbonized lump on the plate and said, "I see that you cooked dinner."

"Everyone's a comedian." Jacob tossed the plate on the counter. "Just FYI, I think the microwave is fucked."

"Is there a reason why you're standing in the kitchen in your underwear?"

Jacob looked down. He'd forgotten. He headed for the bedroom and the shorts he had dropped on the floor.

As he tugged them on, he heard Edward call, "Don't you know better than to put metal in a microwave?"

"I didn't know it was metal. I thought it was just paint." Jacob shook his head and dropped his voice to a mutter. "Who expects real gold on a_ plate_?" He peeled off his wet socks and tossed them in the hamper. At least there were a pair of dry socks in the drawer that would fit him. He pulled them on.

"And you shouldn't put paper in there unless you know it's microwave-safe," Edward advised.

"I didn't know there was paper that _wasn't_ safe." Jacob felt like a moron. He shuffled back out to the main room.

"Recycled paper sometimes has tiny bits of metal in the fibers. That's probably what caught it on fire."

Jacob sighed. "I need to apologize to your mother for ruining her plate and replace it."

Edward shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I can guarantee my mother didn't buy these, because she'd never buy gold-plated china. She'd throw away all of it, if she knew it was here." Edward took the plate and tossed it into the trash can in the cabinet beside the sink

"Frog gone," Bella said mournfully.

Edward gave her a hug and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Jacob, why is she soaking wet?"

"Long story. What happened with Tanya?"

The two of them walked to the living room area. Edward took a seat on the beige sofa and Jacob tossed himself on the overstuffed chaise lounge. Bella stayed behind in the kitchen where she was busy going through the cabinets one by one and removing items she found interesting. Both Edward and Jacob kept close watch. She probably wouldn't plug in any of the small appliances she was examining, out of fear of _zzzt_, but it was probably best to keep an eye on the situation.

"My lawyer called Tanya and told her I was going to give her the house. He said she was very excited about the prospect. He wrote up the contract, which includes the non-disclosure agreement, and he tweaked mother's idea slightly by adding a clause that states she has to give the house back if she talks to the press. Concrete consequences are always more effective than the ephemeral."

Jacob nodded. "Smart thinking."

"He told her several times she should get a lawyer of her own to look it over, but it didn't seem like she was interested in doing that. Her only requirement was that I be there personally when she signs and the house is transferred to her."

"What do you think she wants?"

"She probably sees it as another chance to try to win me back," Edward said with a dismissive swish of his hand. "She's confident she's going to wind up with me and owning the house, too, so she's quite willing to take advantage of my generosity until I 'come to my senses'. According to what mother has heard, she's been telling her friends that I only married Bella to get her out of that 'hellhole' of a country."

Jacob snorted. "She's never been to Catalupa, obviously."

The phone rang and Edward turned to it. He never answered unless it had rang precisely three times. He would wait for it, or alternately, if he couldn't get to answer it in time, he would let it go to the machine rather than pick up on the fourth. He lifted the handset and said, "Hello, Cullen and Black residence. Yes, send him up." He dropped the phone back into the cradle. "Felix is here."

Felix entered at the head of a group of staff, all of whom were carrying boxes and clothing bags. "Good evening, sir. Where would you like me to put your things?" He peered into the kitchen and smiled to see Bella sitting on the floor, surrounded by small appliances.

"Hello, Felix." Edward glanced at Jacob. "Did you choose a bedroom?"

"I changed my clothes in the first one on the right. I'll take that one, if it's okay with you."

"I'll take the one across the hall," Edward said. "Thank you, Felix. Thank you, everyone, for all of your hard work."

"You okay?" Jacob asked him quietly when the staff had departed to put away their things.

"Strangely, yes. This move is causing me less stress than moving into our apartment at the university."

Bella's presence, perhaps? Jacob gave an internal sigh of relief. Maybe things would work out after all.

* * *

><p>When Edward walked into his lawyer's office two days later, Emmett in tow, he found Tanya already waiting for him. She leaned up against the conference table, clad in a shimmery metallic micro-mini dress that barely covered her pelvis. Only Tanya would wear an evening gown at two in the afternoon.<p>

"Hello, Edward," she purred.

Edward looked over at his lawyer, who sat on the opposite side of the table, his expression tinged with exasperation. "Hello, Mr. Banner. Can we get started, please?"

"Certainly." The lawyer began to explain the various legalities but Tanya interrupted.

"I was hoping you and I could go get some lunch afterward," she said. Her voice caressed the word "lunch", clearly offering more than a meal.

"Thank you, but I have another engagement," Edward replied. It was the truth. He and Jacob were going to buy Bella a camera and an iPad as soon as he was finished. He turned his attention back to the paperwork and signed where the red sticky tabs had been placed after the attorney explained each clause.

The lawyer pushed the papers across the table at Tanya and she quickly scrawled her signature on each line without waiting for an explanation. She tossed the pen down and walked around the table to Edward's side. Emmett blocked her path. "Move it, you over-grown lug," Tanya growled.

"Sorry, miss, but no one approaches Mr. Cullen."

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Edward, for Christ's sake ..."

"Are we finished, here?" Edward asked Mr. Banner, and then shook his hand when he said that they were. He headed for the door.

"Edward! Wait ... I have something to tell you."

"I'm not interested, Tanya."

"Oh, I think you will be." She paused for dramatic effect and then smiled. "I'm pregnant."


	12. Chapter 12

.

~.~

Chapter Twelve

~.~

"Congratulations," Edward told Tanya. He glanced at his lawyer. "It's not mine."

Tanya's triumphant smile collapsed. Her trump card had not had the expected effect. "W- what?"

"It's not mine," he repeated. "Unless you're about five months along." He nodded toward her still-flat abdomen, so clearly outlined by her clinging dress.

Her mouth worked as though she were trying to form words, but nothing emerged.

"The last time we had sex was three days after my birthday - which you forgot, by the way." He smiled slightly. "You thought I wouldn't remember, didn't you?" Had she been counting on his forgetfulness? That he wouldn't remember the last time they had been intimate and she'd have nine months to win him back, and hopefully by the time the child was born, he either wouldn't demand a paternity test or would decide to forgive her?

She didn't answer, but he could tell she had, indeed, been counting on something of the kind. A look of dull panic entered her eyes.

"Good luck with your impending motherhood," he said, and turned again to leave.

"You can't prove it's not yours!" she cried. "Not until after it's born! Everyone is going to think it's yours and if I tell that you're refusing to help me, you'll be ripped apart in the media!"

"But you can't talk to the media about Mr. Cullen, remember?" Mr. Banner interjected.

Tanya lifted her chin. "I'm not allowed to talk about our _relationship_, but we don't have a relationship any more."

It was Mr. Banner's turn to smile. "You should have gotten your own attorney, as I advised, or at least read the document before you signed it. It states that you're not allowed to talk about Mr. Cullen _at all_, unless, of course, you're willing to surrender ownership of the house."

She faltered for a moment but then charged back into the fray. "I won't have to say anything. Once people see that I don't have any money, they'll know that you're not supporting me."

Mr. Banner tapped his pen against his lips. "We could draw up another contract for your support until the baby is born ..."

Tanya smiled.

"With the provision, of course, that you repay every dime if the child turns out to have been fathered by someone other than Mr. Cullen."

She looked like he'd slapped her. She blinked rapidly and turned to Edward as tears pooled in her eyes. "Please, Edward, don't abandon me. You loved me once. For the sake of that love, please ... please help me."

Edward sighed and looked over at Mr. Banner. It's not like he would miss the money, after all and -

Mr. Banner shook his head. "We are not establishing a precedent of support."

"Won't the baby's father help you?" Edward asked.

Tanya sniffed dismissively.

"Who is he, anyway?"

"He works at the university, but I doubt you've ever met him." She was pouting, resentful. "His name is Jasper Whitlock."

* * *

><p>Rosalie was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Well, maybe "breakfast" was the wrong word, since it was four p.m., but they were all adapting to Bella's nocturnal schedule, and the meal was comprised of breakfast foods. Bacon popped and hissed in a skillet beside frying eggs, and a pan of hash browns sizzled on the other burner.<p>

Edward entered, followed by Emmett, whose eyes zeroed in on Rosalie. He approached the counter and practically drooled, though over the girl or the food, Jacob wasn't sure.

"Hey, Edward, how did it go?"

"Poorly." Edward took a seat at the counter beside him. "Rosalie, do you have enough for one more?"

"Sure, Edward."

"Two?" Emmett added hopefully.

Rosalie smiled slightly and retrieved more ingredients from the refrigerator.

Edward related the events of the meeting to Jacob while Emmett stared at Rosalie as she bustled around the kitchen.

"Pregnant? Jesus Christ. That girl has balls the size of cantaloupes to try to pin it on you. Who's the father?"

"You're not going to believe it: Jasper Whitlock."

Jacob let out a surprised bark of laughter. "You're kidding!"

"Apparently, she met when he was working as a valet for the university Christmas party last year."

"Small fucking world. It gets weirder: we're going out to meet him tonight."

Edward's expression became wary. "Jacob ..."

"I told him I'd take him out for a beer when we came back."

"Why do I have to go?"

Jacob took a sip of his coffee. "It's only polite, since he helped you out as well, and also because I'm taking Bella with me."

"You want to take her to a _bar_?" Edward shook his head. "Obnoxious drunks, smoky air and overly-loud music? It will hurt her ears, Jacob!"

"Edward, we both agreed that she needs to learn about modern American life. Bars are part of that experience. Come on, she'll have fun. You'll see."

Edward groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

Rosalie plunked plates down in front of them. "_Bon appétit_."

Emmett gazed at her in open adoration. "Thank you, Rosalie. I haven't had a meal like this in ages_."_

"Don't tell me you never learned how to cook, either," Rose said with a shake of her head.

Jacob and Emmett exchanged a glance. "Our mother isn't exactly the domestic type." He and Emmett had been raised on a diet of fast food, pizza, and TV dinners. When there was money left over for food after his parents' vices were fulfilled, that is. Jacob could remember going hungry a few times, though he and Emmett had quietly collaborated to ensure that their little sister was always fed. In fact, Emmett's first stint in jail had resulted from being caught breaking into a neighbor's house to steal food for her. The women Emmett's life would never understand why their cooking abilities were so important to him.

"I can microwave," Emmett said, but he wasn't defensive about it. "It's all I need to know. You can get just about anything frozen these days."

"Well, just because I'm the only girl here who can operate a stove doesn't mean I'll be cooking all of the meals."

"Of course not," Emmett hastened to assure her. "We'll get takeout."

They heard a door open and Edward perked up. "That's Bella. Excuse me." Both he and Jacob looked quickly to ensure that all of the windows were covered. Edward laid aside his napkin and headed for their bedroom as Bella emerged, rubbing her eyes. Edward kissed her on the cheek. "Good evening, Bella." She went up on tiptoe and whispered something in his ear and Jacob saw him flush, his eyes become hot. "Please excuse us for a moment." he said, and followed her back into the bedroom.

"Don't be all night about it," Jacob called. "I told Jasper we'd meet him at eight."

"Hard to believe that chick is a vampire," Emmett commented around a mouthful of potatoes. He'd been let in on the secret out of necessity. "How often does she need to ... you know ... ?"

"Every few days now. When she first woke up, it was every night. Sometimes twice."

"Is she gonna hurt Edward feeding off of him that often?"

Jacob frowned. He hadn't thought about that. He bit off a piece of bacon and pondered as he chewed. "Rose? What do you think? You know vampires better than the rest of us."

"I was wondering if you were going to remember that," she said, her tone wry.

"Well?"

She shrugged. "He should be fine. She doesn't need that much because of her age."

"They drink less as they get older?"

Rosalie nodded. "They say that some of the really ancient ones drink only for the pleasure of it."

"How old can they get?" Emmett asked.

"It's indefinite. The Council is comprised only of Ancients, vampires over a thousand years old. Most vampires don't make it that long. Eternity is far more difficult than people think."

"Wow, a thousand years ... I can't even imagine that." Emmett scraped up his last bite and chewed while he carried his plate to the sink. "So, um, Rosalie ... Do you want to go out with me tonight?"

"We're already going out with Bella and Edward," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but I thought we could ... you know ... go_ together_." Emmett didn't look at her as he rinsed his plate. He was trying too hard to be casual about it. Jacob saw the small, soft smile that Rosalie gave. She was touched by it, even though she, too, was nonchalant when he turned around for his answer.

"Sure," she said. "I'm going to go get ready. And Emmett?"

"Yes?"

Rosalie smiled back at him over her shoulder as she headed for her room. "I hope you can dance."

Emmett waited until he heard the click of the door and then he said to Jacob, "Fuck! I don't know how to dance."

Jacob hid a smile. "Well, I don't have time to teach you, so you're going to just have to fake it. Ask her to dance during slow songs so that all you have to do is shuffle your feet, and offer her a drink during the fast ones."

"That could work. What should I wear?"

"Jeans and a polo shit. T-shirt is too casual for a date, but dress pants for going to a bar would say you're trying too hard."

Emmett nodded. "Thanks, bro."

"Any time."

Emmett was met by Bella and Edward as he headed for his room to change. "Memet!" she said and hugged him. She'd taken an immediate liking to Emmett and he seemed to have decided to adopt her as a little sister. Jacob was glad Rosalie was in her room and hadn't seen the hug. None of them needed her jealousy of Bella resurrected.

He finished his breakfast and took his plate to the sink. All of this romance business and pairing off was getting complicated. He told himself that he was glad he was single and unfettered by emotion.

Edward emerged from the bedroom, looking a little dazed. His hair stood out at wild angles and the collar of his shirt had a speck of blood on it. He saw Jacob and pointed an accusing finger. "Bella is in the shower, singing a_ Pixies song_. Know anything about that?"

"She might have found my CD collection and she might have figured out how to use the stereo," Jacob admitted.

Edward sighed.

"She thought they were DVDs, I think, because as soon as she put one in, she sat down in front of the TV." As soon as she realized what it was, she had torn through his music collection (and maybe, just maybe, Jacob had steered her choices a tiny bit.)

Edward walked away, muttering something under his breath about not trusting Jacob with her musical education and Jacob waited until the bedroom door had closed before he let out the laughter that was nearly choking him.

* * *

><p>The bar they were going to tonight was called Tuneville. Its owner was a big fan of <em>Who Framed Roger Rabbit<em> and had animation cells from the movie on all of the walls. It had been designed to look like a club in the 1940s, all noir and Art Deco and its name was a homage to the movie slightly amended to reflect the live music they had every night. The waitresses wore Betty Boop costumes, and there were girls who roamed the room, selling cigarettes from trays suspended around their necks. Jacob wondered what they'd do if the pending legislation to ban smoking in public buildings passed.

The music throbbed and disjointed images from 1940s movies flashed on the massive screen that covered one wall. There was a live band tonight, some group that Jacob had never heard of, but they sounded pretty good. He paid the cover charge for everyone and they swam through the crowd toward the bar.

"Hey, Jacob!" The bartender reached across the bar and they shook hands.

"Hey, Harry! How's Sue?"

"Fuckin' mean as ever," Harry said, and seemed pleased by that fact. "She said she might stop by later."

Bella squeezed through the crowd to stand beside him stretched out her hand. "I am Bella. Nice to meet you."

Harry took it and gave it a brief shake. "This your girl?" he asked Jacob.

"Nah, she's with Edward."

Harry's forehead wrinkled as he tried to put a face to the name. "Your roommate, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. This is his wife."

"Ah! I saw the wedding band and thought you'd got yourself hitched."

"Not fuckin' likely," Jacob grinned. "You seen Jasper Whitlock tonight?"

Harry shook his head. "I'll send him your way, if I do. Go ahead and take one of those reserved tables over there. You want the usual?"

"Give me a pitcher and five glasses."

"Coming right up."

Jacob led their group over to one of the tables and they all slid into the tall bar stools. Edward's expression was trepidatious but Bella was bouncing with excitement. She twisted in her seat to look around the crowded room. She wore a black Donna Karan dress with a scooped neckline and a full skirt that fell below the knee, courtesy of Esme's personal shopper, Bree, who had delivered the first part of Bella's new wardrobe yesterday and had seemed slightly frustrated that Bella merely blinked at her when she detailed the designers she had chosen. It had been an amusing sight as Bella tore into the pile of bags and boxes like she had with the Walmart bags, tossing aside what she did not like and squealing "Pretty!" when she found something she did. And then she had stripped on the spot to wiggle into one of the dresses and Jacob had laughed until tears pooled in his eyes at Bree's shocked expression.

They had a good vantage point here, and could see the dance floor downstairs and the band on stage. The lead singer was a tiny woman with dark hair who was currently belting out Melissa Etheridge's "I'm the Only One." He frowned and leaned forward. Blinked. Gaped. "Holy shit, Emmett, that's _Alice_!"

"What? Fuck me, it _is_ Alice! Since when is Alice in a band?"

"And since when can she sing like that?" Jacob rejoined. They'd heard her singing around the house as kids, but nothing like this. Alice wore a short silver sequined dress that gleamed and winked in the stage lights with a pair of scuffed combat boots, repaired with duct tape. She had one foot propped up on a speaker at the edge of the stage, and both hands were clenched around the microphone as she sang, and it was hard to believe such a big voice came from such a tiny girl.

"Hey, Jacob."

"Jasper! Hi!" Jacob rose to shake his hand. "Great to see you again, man."

Bella stuck out her hand and recited her greeting. "Nice to meet you, too, Bella," Jasper replied.

"She's Edward's wife. You remember Edward, don't you?"

Jasper grinned. "Yeah, the guy who was stingy with the Pepsi."

Edward reddened a bit and Jacob hastily introduced the rest of the group. Jacob and Jasper began catching up on mutual acquaintances. Rosalie and Emmett were also deep in conversation, at least until Rose took his hand and drew him toward the stairs and the dance floor below, despite the fact that Emmett tried to demur until a slow song as Jacob had suggested. Rosalie would not be deterred and she drew him inexorably toward her destination. He cast one last, desperate look Jacob before he disappeared down the stairs. Jacob spread his hands; there was nothing he could do and Emmett was on his own.

Edward sipped his beer silently, his eyes on Bella. Her obvious enjoyment of the spectacle all around them made him smile. He wasn't talking, but at least he didn't look as miserable as he usually did in situations like this.

Alice launched into "What's Up" by4 Non Blondes and Jacob's jaw dropped and he forgot the conversation he was was having, in awe of his sister's powerful voice. She hit the swooping notes easily, her spine arched and her slim white arms holding the microphone up above her face as she belted out the song with a passionate intensity felt by everyone in the room. The dance floor had stilled and a hush fell over the room. Every eye in the room was glued to her as if they all recognized something special was happening, a shining moment that deserved their full attention. Alice fell to her knees at the end of the song as she cooed the last few notes, and there was a silent pause after she lowered the microphone. It seemed that no one even breathed, and then the room erupted into screaming applause. Alice stood, a blush staining her cheeks as she ducked her head, shy now that the spell had been broken.

"Thank you," she said. "We'll be back in twenty minutes." And with that, she quickly retreated from the stage and disappeared through a curtain.

"You want to go back and see Alice?" Jasper offered as Emmett and Rosalie returned to the table, their faces flushed and damp from exertion. Emmett held Rosalie's chair for her, but nearly tipped her out onto the floor when he tried to push it in for her. "I can show you where her dressing room is."

Jasper knew Alice? Christ, it _was_ a small world. "Yeah, that would be great. I haven't talked to her since I left for Catalupa."

Edward eagerly accepted that suggestion which would get him away from the noise and crowds for a while, but Rosalie elected to stay at the table. Emmett was torn over visiting with his sister or staying with Rosalie until Jacob made the decision for him by grabbing his arm. They struggled to work their way through the crowd surrounding the dance floor until Emmett pushed to the front of their group. After that, the crowd made a small path for them, scurrying to get out of the path of the bulky giant who looked like he'd be just as happy knocking them down and walking over them. Edward kept a tight grip on Bella's hand.

They stepped through the door at the back and found themselves in a hallway. The door on the left was open and Alice sat at a lighted vanity table, guzzling a bottle of water.

"Jake!" Alice cried and jumped to her feet. She threw her arms around her brother and hugged him tightly. "Emmy!"

"Hey, baby girl," Emmett said. He threw his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. Alice giggled and ruffled his hair.

"You didn't call me!" she accused Jacob when Emmett set her back on her feet.

"I know. I'm sorry, Allie, but I had a few ... issues."

"I heard."

"Who's with you?"

"This is Edward's wife -"

"_YOU GOT MARRIED?_!" Alice screamed, and it was so loud that Jacob was surprised her mirror didn't shatter. Bella grimaced and rubbed her ears.

Edward smiled and ducked his head.

Alice never let Edward get away with that shy shit around her. She grabbed him in a hard hug, and then turned to Bella, who stepped back in alarm as the strange woman tried to grab her. "This is my sister, Bella. Alice."

"Ahl-ss," Bella said. "I am Bella. Nice to meet you." Bella stuck out her hand and Alice used it to yank Bella into her arms.

"We're practically sisters now," Alice told her. "Edward was always like another brother when I was growing up because he and Jake were practically glued at the hip and you're not understanding a word I say, are you?"

Bella blinked.

"She doesn't speak much English, Alice," Jacob told her.

Alice turned to Edward. "How did you meet her? I thought you were still with that too-tanned twat, Tanya."

Jasper paled. He looked between Alice and Edward and his expression slowly changed to something between horror and terror.

Edward said nothing. The silence stretched for an uncomfortable moment before Jacob broke through it.

"Since when are you in a band, sis?"

Alice looked down and shuffled her feet. "It was just something ... Well, the drummer, Sam, is a friend of mine. Lives two doors down from my place, actually. Anyway, I came up short at the end of the month and borrowed some money from him. I was struggling to come up with a way to pay him back when their lead singer moved to Colorado with her boyfriend, and he said that if I helped them out with a couple of gigs, we'd call it even. And I stayed because I need the money."

"Why? Aren't you getting my direct deposits?"

She looked even more embarrassed. "I am, but that asshole Riley quit his job so he doesn't have to pay support for the kids, and money got really tight, especially after Collin had to get braces."

"Riley isn't working?"

"Oh, he's working all right. Construction. Just under the table, so that his income can't be garnished."

"That fucker." Jacob took a deep breath. Now was not the time to discuss it. He changed the subject. "How long have you known Jasper, sis?"

Alice smiled and her whole face lit up. She grabbed his hand and Jasper smiled at her. "About six months now. I think I may have finally met the right one, Jake."

Jacob's jaw dropped and he stared at her for a long moment. He turned and met Emmett's shocked eyes. "You're joking, right?"

Alice's smile fell as though the strings holding up the corners of her mouth had been cut. Her face crumpled in hurt. "What do you mean?"

"You've got to be crazy if you think I'm going to let my sister get involved with an ex-con," Emmett snapped.

Now it was Alice's turn to gape. "You hypocrite! How dare you? You have no fucking right to tell me -"

"After the string of losers you've picked, _someone_ has got to tell you."

"Fuck off, Jacob," Alice snapped. "Get the hell out of here. I have to go back on stage in ten minutes and I don't want to be upset before a show. God, I can't _believe_ you!"

"Jasper, a word?" Jacob said coldly. Jasper glanced at Alice and nodded. He kept his eyes on the floor as they trooped out into the hallway. Jacob closed the door to Alice's dressing room behind them.

Emmett punched him in the stomach.

Jasper doubled over and fell to his knees, one arm across his stomach, the other propping up his torso so that he didn't face-plant on the carpet. He wheezed.

"That's for cheating on my sister," Emmett said.

"It's ... not ... like ... that."

"I don't give a fuck what it's like," Jacob retorted. "You break it off and you stay the fuck away from her or I'm coming after you myself."

Bella looked at all three men, wearing identical hostile expressions. She reached over and smacked Jasper on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

_"_Did you know Tanya was my girlfriend when you fucked her?" Edward asked.

"No ... I knew she ... she was with someone ... A professor, she said."

"Technically true," Jacob noted.

"From what she said ... I thought he was ... an old guy. A sugar daddy." Jasper looked up pleadingly at Edward.

"Do you know she's pregnant?"

If it were possible, Jasper looked even more stricken than he had after he'd been punched. "Oh, God, no ..."

Jacob gave a huff of disgust and turned away. They all trooped back to their table. Emmett didn't bother with "_Excuse me_s". He bellowed, "MOVE!" and the crowd of patrons scrambled to get out of his way, giving them a clear path to the table.

Rose saw their expressions and muttered, "Oh, shit. I some bodyguard I am. I knew I should have - What happened? Where's that Jasper guy?"

"He's dating my sister," Jacob said indignantly. "And she has no idea he cheated on her and knocked up Tanya."

"More beer," Emmett muttered and left the table to go to the bar.

"God, what a nightmare," Edward said. He rubbed his temples. Bella laid her head on his shoulder and made soothing sounds.

Alice came back out and smiled at the audience who cheered her reappearance.

Alice must have been doing a 90s set this evening, because her band launched into the Squirrel Nut Zipper's "Hell." The floor filled with dancers, and Bella pointed to them. "Want do!" she said.

"I can't, Bella," Edward said. Alarm stiffened spine and widened his eyes..

"I'll dance with you, Bella," Jacob said. He glanced at Edward to make sure he had no objections. Edward nodded. He knew he had no reason for jealousy or concern in that regard.

The high school that Jacob and Edward had attended offered dance as an alternative to gym, and Jacob had quickly identified it as a situation that would be perfect for meeting girls. He was right; the class had been filled with girls and he had been the only male. Fortunately for him, dance came naturally and he learned a variety of ballroom and traditional dances. He now led Bella into an easy swing dance . She picked up the steps quickly, her eyes sparkling with fun, her full skirt twirling around her legs. He didn't realize that the dancers had fallen back and given them the floor until the applause began at the end of their dance. Bella threw her head back and laughed and clapped with them, not realizing that she was its recipient.

Come on, Bella." He tried to led her up the stairs, back to the table, but instead, she darted up to the stage at Alice's feet. "Want do!" she called.

"You want to sing?" Alice asked her.

Bella nodded.

"What do you think?" Alice asked the audience.

The audience shouted back its approval and Alice shrugged. "What the hell? Come on up here, sweetie."

With a leap, Bella was on top of the stage. Alice blinked in surprise, but handed Bella the microphone."Tell them who you are, honey."

"I am Bella. Nice to meet you." Some of the audience chuckled.

"What are you going to sing for us?"

She launched into a song immediately and fortunately it was one that the band recognized and they came in on the third line. Bella was obviously reproducing the sounds of words she didn't know the meaning of and she mispronounced about half of them, but it was made up by her her obvious enthusiasm. Alice joined in and sang backup.

_"Teenagers scare the living shit out of me ..."_

Edward groaned. "Regretting your choices in her musical education now, Jacob?"

"Nah ... she's doing a great job with it." They had reached the instrumental section and now Bella was spinning across the stag, kicking out her heels in glee. The whole bar joined in the next chorus and the applause and cheers at the end nearly shook the walls. Bella smiled and waved.

"Edwurr," she said."Love Edwurr." And then she began to sing "Come Monday," and Edward felt his throat tighten. She looked up to their table and he pressed a kiss to the tips of his fingers and blew it to her. She seemed to understand the gesture. She smiled and it gave the song a sweet note of happiness. She handed the microphone back to Alice amid the applause and hopped down off the stage and ran to him. The whole bar cheered when she flung herself into his arms for a passionate kiss.

* * *

><p>Jacob was the first to enter the apartment, so he saw him first and nearly jumped out of his skin to see someone in what was supposed to be an empty apartment. "Jesus!" he blurted.<p>

"What? Who is it?" Emmett pushed past him, prepared for a fight.

"Jinx."

..

* * *

><p>AN: I put together a playlist of the songs on my blog, in case you're not familiar with them.  
>lissabryan (dot) blogspot (dot) com2012/05/playlist-for-chapter-12-of-dark-goddess (dot) html


	13. Chapter 13

.

~.~

Chapter Thirteen

~.~

Shinx was seated on the sofa. He rose and bowed low to Bella.

Fury flashed through her and she threw her power at Shinx, slamming him back against the wall so hard the plaster cracked. She pinned him there, and he didn't try to resist. Leaf Bringers had powers of their own but high inside this structure of steel and glass, unconnected with the earth, they were weakened.

"How dare you enter my dwelling without permission?" she hissed. Her eyes burned with anger. "I should kill you for this."

Edwurr took one look at her and wisely took a step back.

"Dark Goddess, Mistress of Night and Lady of Rain, I beg your forgiveness, but I wasn't sure that your caretakers would allow me to see you, nor pass on a message."

Bella blinked. The Catalupan word he had used could mean either caregivers or captors. Would Shaykob and Edwurr really have prevented Shinx from seeing her and kept his visit from her? She frowned slightly. Why would they do that? "Where is Veelx?"

"Who?"

"She means Felix," Shaykob interjected. "How did you get past him, and where is he?"

"Sleeping," Shinx replied in English.

"Sleeping?" Shaykob repeated stupidly. "Felix doesn't _sleep_."

Shinx smiled slightly. "He's human. I assure you, he does."

"Where?" Bella snapped, catching only snippets of this conversation, but enough to understand the general gist of it. She released Shinx and he dropped lightly to his feet. He gestured to the small cloak storage room beside the entrance. Shaykob opened it and Veelx fell out into his arms. Bella cried out and rushed over to pat his cheeks. Veelx was alive; she could hear his heartbeat, but he was bespelled and wouldn't wake until Shinx lifted it.

"Release him, now," she ordered in Catalupan.

"Forgive me, Goddess. I did not know he was your servant."

Bella had to restrain herself from crushing him like an insect. "Release him _now_!"

"Yes, Goddess." Shinx took a pouch from his belt and removed a pinch of powder that he placed on his palm. He blew across it, sprinkling Veelx with the powder, which disappeared almost instantly when it landed on his dark suit.

Veelx's eyes flew open and he moved with surprising speed for a human. He bowled into Shinx and knocked him down to the floor. He raised his fist but froze when he saw Shaykob and Edward standing nearby. He said something to them that Bella didn't understand and when Edwurr answered, his eyes on Bella, Veelx dropped his fist, though with some reluctance. He rose to his feet and straightened, brushing dust off of the sleeves of his dark clothing. Shinx jumped to his feet with one smooth, graceful motion. "I apologize again, Goddess. Had I known he was your servant -"

Bella narrowed her eyes. "What do you want, Shinx? What could be so important that you would violate the sanctity of my dwelling place?"

"There is something I must show you. May we speak in privacy?"

She considered for a moment and then nodded. "Talk Shinx," she told Shaykob and Edwurr. Edwurr looked like he wanted to object which made Bella wonder if Shinx had been telling the truth. She led him down the hall to one of the bedchambers that was unoccupied. Like all of the bed chambers in this place, it had two wide, upholstered benches facing one another over a small table - she couldn't remember the word that Edwurr had called the seats. Shinx had sufficient manners to remain standing until she was seated but he disquieted her by sitting down beside her instead of going to the other bench.

"Goddess, I wish to share a vision with you."

She'd never shared minds with a Leaf Bringer, but she had been told what it entailed. She wasn't sure she trusted him that much, but when he bowed his head and said, "Please," softly, beseechingly, she nodded.

Shinx tilted his head to the side and she bit down on his throat. She heard him gasp; she couldn't overcome his mind to make it painless as she could with a human. His blood flooded her mouth and she nearly gagged. The blood of Leaf Bringers was thicker than humans and sickly sweet, like tree sap. When she'd taken enough, she pulled away and rubbed the back of her hand over her mouth. They joined hands locked eyes. She could feel it starting already. His pupils seemed to swell until they were all that she could see. She felt herself falling into them, into a long, dark tunnel with no walls, falling into the infinite. He caught her and the darkness peeled back to reveal a massive forest below them.

They flew together over it at incredible speed. Here and there, she spotted villages, temples poking above the treetops, planted fields, and a river that wove through it like a silver ribbon.

"This is Catalupa as you knew it," Shinx said.

"Yes." She had never seen it from above, but she felt it in her heart. Her homeland, her realm, the lush, verdant forest that had nourished her people, provided fruit and shelter.

He passed a hand over her face. "And now."

The forest was gone. She cried out in shock. He had told her that the rainforest was mostly gone, but she hadn't fully comprehended it, hadn't known the magnitude of its loss. The land was starkly bare, home to grazing cattle, sometimes planted with crops in orderly rows. Houses surrounded by nothing but grass and a handful of shrubs. Shinx guided them down to the river and she recoiled from its stench. A sharp odor she didn't recognize stung her nose. "Chemicals," Shinx explained. "Chemicals and waste. Runoff from the fields." He touched her hand and they skipped to something she didn't understand. It was ... a cave in the earth and people were bringing out loads of rocks. Below, a small river of orange fluid ran down into the river.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Acids that they use to separate metals from the stone," Shinx said. "You have seen the wonders of human cities. I want you now to see the cost."

As they flew onward, she saw forests diminish, the wild things within them dwindle in number. "It is not just your land that they have destroyed. This is their homeland, where you are now." He showed her a plain covered in large, furry animals that he said were called buffalo, and then the massive piles of their bones as the people killed them off to starve out those who lived on the land they wanted to possess. And then the prairie was broken into fields, divided by fences and there was no more open space for the animals to roam.

"Their numbers exploded when The Balance fell," Shinx said, and she knew he was referring to humans. As she watched, the cities grew up over the land like mold on bread, spreading, expanding, eating the countryside. He showed her poisoned streams in tunnels below cities that flowed into the rivers. He took her to a place where mountains of human-made things were piled. She smelled rotten food, the waste of infants, the sharp stink of chemicals.

"I don't understand," she said.

"It is a waste dump, where they dispose of things they no longer want."

"That's not what I meant. I don't understand why you're showing this to me."

"I wanted to show you the price of imbalance." He touched her hand again and they were over the sea.

"The salt waters are dying," he said. "They take too many fish to eat, and the chemicals and waste pour in from the rivers ..." He shook his head. "The smoke from their factories taints the air. Soil, water and air, all of it poisoned by them."

She eyed him with suspicion. She wasn't sure he was telling her the entire truth. He had an agenda, after all, something he wanted her to do.

"And now, I will show you my people." There was a whirl of color and then she was in the woods again, in the cool green embrace of ancient trees. But there was a buzzing sound in the distance that she didn't recognize. He pushed aside large leaves and on the other side she saw a woman lying between a small pond. Her long white-blonde hair spread out around her on the bank. Her ears had pointed tips. A Leaf Bringer, then. But there was something wrong with her. She looked wan and listless. As she watched, a tiny sprite fluttered over and lay down on the Leaf Bringer's hand. There was something wrong with it. They were supposed to be sparkling, bright. This one had only a faint glow. It trembled and then it went still when it landed and as though it had been composed of sunbeams and smoke, it faded out of existence. The woman cried out and closed her hand as if to grab the tiny sprite and force it to stay. Her grief was heart-rending and Bella felt tears spring to her eyes.

"As the forests die, so do we, unless we escape to another realm where The Balance was maintained. But some will not go. They wish to try to stay to tend what little of our world is left. The woman you see there, she is my sister. She remains in this patch of forest, but the humans come ever closer with their saws. You can hear them."

That was the buzzing she heard.

"Her heart-tree will fall soon. Do you know what that means?"

She did. Every Leaf Bringer had a tree to which they were bonded, which they tended and cared for, and the tree sheltered and fed them in return. Their magic kept the tree thriving as long as the Leaf Bringer themselves lived, but it was not immune to saws or fire. Few of them could survive once their tree was gone.

Shinx tapped Bella's shoulder and they were back in the apartment. Bella drew away from Shinx and went to stand by the window. She stared down at the city below, covered in gray pavement with not a tree in sight. How many fae had once dwelt here, she wondered, before the trees were cut and the earth itself buried below concrete?

"This is the price paid when there is no Balance," Shinx said quietly. "Do you understand now why we fae hope that you are the one the prophecies say will restore it? It is too late for my sister, and probably too late for me, as well, but you could save the few that remain."

It was too much. She couldn't process all that she had seen, let alone give him an answer to a question she wasn't sure she fully understood. "Leave me," Bella ordered. From the corner of her eye, she saw him bow and obey. She heard the click of the door behind him as he shut it.

She leaned her forehead against the window. Could she trust him? Had he shown her real images? He controlled the vision, after all. He could have invented all of those scenes.

A bit later, she saw him emerge from the building, far below, a curiously bright figure, as though he absorbed what little light there was on the dark streets and reflected it back. He stopped and turned to look up toward the window and raised a hand to her. She knew he couldn't see her but she pressed her palm to the glass in return. He stopped beside a patch of flowers in a little stone trough. One of the flower bushes was half-dead. Shinx leaned over it. She couldn't see what he did, but when he retreated, the bush was covered in lush leaves and fat flowers, now better-looking than its neighbors. He looked up toward her window again and then down the street, where he faded into the darkness.

* * *

><p>It was nearly four A.M. and Edward was still pecking at his laptop.<p>

Monday, Jacob had answered the phone to find the dean of the university on the line. He wanted to know when Dr. Cullen would be returning to work at the university.

Austlyn University more or less allowed Edward to come and go as he pleased and an absence of a month or so wasn't unusual for him if he got wrapped up in something outside of academia. The dean had stressed that he didn't want Dr. Cullen to feel pressured; they were simply curious and hoped that nothing was wrong. Likely, they were worried that he was pissed over Jacob being placed on administrative leave. Jacob assured him that everything was all right and Dr. Cullen would be back soon.

Edward had already intended to return because he wanted to run tests on the samples he had taken from Bella. She hadn't objected when he ran a swab around inside her lip to collect a sample of her saliva, though the blood sample had upset her because it stung when he poked the needle inside her arm. He would have to run the chemical analysis himself, he knew. If anyone else saw these samples, they'd be intrigued at the least and he didn't trust them to remain quiet about what would likely be astonishing results.

Bella's blood under the microscope was fascinating. She had only one type of blood cell, as opposed to humans' white and red blood cells. They behaved like viruses and devoured any other type of cells introduced to the sample. Unfortunately, all of the cells in her sample died within twenty-four hours and he was hesitant to ask her for another. Since it appeared that he didn't have long to study the samples, Edward had spent the last two days in the lab running various tests and hadn't stopped except when Jacob him to eat or sleep.

The central air hummed to life, and a few of Bella's pictures fluttered on the wall. Bella loved the digital camera Jacob had given her. She'd taken pictures of everybody and everything in the apartment and once Jacob had shown her how to print them, she had taped them up everywhere, all over the walls. She'd used the camera to investigate things she couldn't see, such as inside vents and under the refrigerator, and then she'd taken pictures of the places on her body she couldn't normally see and he had a hell of a time talking her out of hanging them up.

That reminded him: he hadn't seen Bella in a while. She had been watching _Sesame Street_ but now the TV was dark and she was nowhere in sight. He saved his work and got up. A noise from the kitchen sent him in that direction. He found Bella energetically stirring a pot on the stove and on a plate beside her elbow was a sandwich six inches thick. "Bella, honey, what are you doing?"

"Shaykob say, 'Edwurr eat!' Bella make eat for Edwurr." She smiled and took the pot off of the stove and showed him the contents. Chicken noodle soup.

"Thank you, Bella," Edward said. He got down a bowl and she poured the soup in it. She looked at him expectantly, so he dipped a spoon into it and took a small sip. It was thick and very salty since she apparently hadn't added any water, but he smiled and said, "Delicious!"

She handed him the plate with the sandwich. He wondered how in the world he was going to eat it. He took a knife from the drawer and set about slicing the sandwich in half, only to have the knife come up against something thick and unyielding. He opened the sandwich and then looked up at Bella. There were three American cheese slices still in their plastic wrappers. "You're supposed to unwrap them first," he advised. He picked them up and found the back gooey with ketchup._ What in the world had she put in there?_ He unwrapped the cheese slices to show her (Edward hated American cheese) and then set about studying all of the strata of Bella's culinary concoction: A layer of jam, followed by lettuce. Mayonnaise on top of that, with bologna slices and what looked like a raw egg. She had used every condiment in the refrigerator, including what looked like half a jar of granulated garlic. Another myth defeated, apparently. A layer of raw turkey bacon strips, folded neatly side by side, was under a thick layer of peanut butter.

"Looks yummy," he praised. "But I can't eat all of it." He mimed a bulging stomach.

"I get Shaykob," she said decisively.

As soon as she was safely out of sight, he stuffed his half of the sandwich down the garbage disposal and turned on the faucet to water down the soup. Jacob came shuffling out of his bedroom, wearing only a pair of pajama pants with Sponge Bob printed all over them, having obviously been woken from a sound sleep. He scratched himself and yawned while Bella tugged him by his arm toward the kitchen. Edward pretended to be chewing. He picked up his bowl of soup and ate a spoonful. "_Bon appétit._"

"What the fuck is this?" Jacob rubbed his eyes and stared at the sandwich, incredulous. "Is that fuckin' A-1 sauce?"

"It appears that a vampire cooking is a bit like sending a colorblind guy to buy women's clothing." Edward ate another spoonful of his soup with relish. "Enjoy your breakfast."

"You fucker," Jacob said. He looked up at Bella's hopeful expression and picked up the sandwich with a sigh.

* * *

><p>Edward got to the university around ten A.M. the next morning, but instead of heading to the lab, he went off to the library. Emmett followed him, wearing a new Brooks Brothers suit that Esme had purchased for him after being quietly horrified by Emmett's "bodyguard" garb. She had presented it to Emmett as it only being fair that the employer purchase the uniforms for work to avoid wounding his pride. As they approached the library, Edward thought that Emmett was just as likely to be bored here as he was in the lab, but fortunately, Emmett was always able to come up with his own form of entertainment. Yesterday, he had taken three paperclips and fashioned them into the shape of a rose, surprisingly artistic of him. He'd given it to Rosalie, who'd thought it was a piece of jewelry until he told her he'd made it. She'd promptly strung it on a silver necklace to wear as a pendant, and Emmett was delighted.<p>

As Edward searched the library computer catalog, Emmett surprised him again by returning from the stacks with Dante's _Purgatorio_ in hand, and settled his large frame in one of the library's chairs. He flipped through the book until he apparently found the spot he'd been looking for and began to read.

"Can I help you, Dr. Cullen?" Edward jumped at the unexpected voice and turned to find Jessica, Jacob's TA, standing beside him. She wore a badge that proclaimed her to be library staff, so she must have a part-time job here as well.

He flushed and shook his head.

She peered over his shoulder at the screen. "South American vampire legends? That's a strange thing for you to be studying."

Emmett was in front of them, his finger tucked inside his book to keep his place. "Move along, miss, please," he said firmly. "Mister Cullen doesn't need any assistance."

"I was just - "

"Move along. I'd hate to have to call security."

Jessica frowned but she nodded and departed. Edward mouthed "Thank you," at Emmett and went back top studying his screen. Within the hour, he was seated at a table with books spread out around him, taking notes as he went. He was looking for any legends which could refer to Bella. Outside of the Catalupans, he hadn't found anything definitive. There were a few interesting details in the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan, who was portrayed in murals as having a fanged "nose-piece" and water dripped from her hands with images of people dancing and playing below, but he doubted if Bella's influence had spread that far. He couldn't find much information on Acolnahuacatl, god of the underworld, to whom worshipers sacrificed blood until he was no longer thirsty.

He put the books on the librarian's cart (signs asked patrons not to re-shelve books themselves) and headed through the breezeway. Wrapped up in his own thoughts, as he usually was, he didn't notice the man sweeping the sidewalk until he'd plowed into him. "Excuse me, please," he blurted.

The man straightened after bending down to pick up his broom, knocked from his hand in the collision, ad Edward got his first look at his face. It was Jasper Whitlock, the ex-girlfriend-impregnator. Jasper cast his eyes to the ground. "Excuse me, Dr. Cullen."

Edward didn't know what to say, an affliction he often had, but in this case, it was particularly awkward.

Jasper rubbed his chin. "I ... uh ... I wanted to talk to you, actually. I just didn't know how to get in touch with you. I doubt if Jacob is in the mood to pass on a message." He eyed Emmett warily but Emmett did nothing glare and cross his arms over his chest.

Edward leaned against the retaining wall that lined the sidewalk. "Okay."

"I need to apologize to you," Jasper said. "If I had known that Tanya was - Shit, I'm not getting this out right." He took a deep breath. "I did something wrong, and I know that. I knew she had a fiance, but she never told me your name and I pictured an older guy, honestly. The things she said about being neglected ... It made me think that your relationship with her wasn't ..." He trailed off and swore softly under his breath. "I'm sorry. I guess it wouldn't have mattered even if you were an old guy. It was still wrong."

"What about my sister?" Emmett demanded. "You haven't said a goddam word about her. Did she know you were screwing around behind her back?"

"It wasn't like that," Jasper protested.

Emmett snorted. "Yeah? Then what _was_ it like, huh?"

Jasper lifted his chin. "That's between Alice and me."

"So, she knows about it?"

Jasper shuffled his feet.

"So, she doesn't know? I'd imagine the reason you're not telling her is because you're afraid of how she's going to react." Emmett smirked at Jasper. "You have three days to break it off with her, or I'm going to tell her myself."

Jasper dropped his head down into his hands.

"Dude, she's going to find out sooner or later," Emmett said, but his tone had softened a little. "You can't hide something like this from her. What do you intend to do? Hide the kid from her? Not be part of its life? Don't you think Alice is going to notice a chunk of your income going to child support?"

"I haven't talked to Tanya," Jasper said. "I don't even know for sure that it's mine."

"Well, it's not his," Emmett said, pointing to Edward, and Edward felt his face flame. Did everyone know about his sex life (or lack thereof) with Tanya?

"I know that I wasn't the only ... um ..." He glanced at Edward and Edward swished a hand through the air dismissively. "So, I can't be sure it's mine until after its born, anyway."

"Your strategy is just to hope and pray?" Emmett said, incredulous. "Jacob was right. You aren't worthy of my sister, and it's not because you were in prison. It's because you're an asshole."

"Look, I'm going to do the right thing - "

"If you _have_ to, you mean? Leave Tanya to struggle alone until she proves its your kid?"

"Until you've been in this situation - "

Emmett nodded. "You're right. I've never been in this situation. Because I've been _responsible_, which seems to be a foreign fucking concept to you."

If Edward hadn't seen it, he would have never believed it: Emmett Black, lecturing someone else on responsibility. It was almost as bizarre as Jacob preaching abstinence.

"Three days," he warned Jasper again.

* * *

><p>Edward wasn't surprised to see Rose waiting for them when they returned to the apartment. She and Emmett often went out in the evening after Edward had returned from the university. But it was Edward she wanted to Jacob was sitting beside her and he had that <em>"We need to talk"<em> look on his face that never boded well.

It was Rosalie who said it. "I need to talk to you about something."

Edward took seat on the sofa and nodded.

Rose looked uncharacteristically uncertain. "It's about Bella."

Edward waited.

"I found out where Jinx went after he got off the ship. He went to Italy, and I can only think of one reason for that." Rosalie twisted her rose pendant on its chain. "I think he went to tell the Queen about Bella."

Edward's forehead creased. "Why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure," Rose replied, but something told Edward she had an idea. "But now that the Queen knows about her, she's going to want Bella to register, and swear loyalty to her."

"Oh, shit," Emmett said, summing up the situation quite eloquently. "Rosie, she doesn't even know that she's a vampire. She thinks she's a goddess and no goddess swears to obey a mortal."

"Queen Victoria isn't mortal."

Emmett grunted. "You know what I mean. This could be bad, Edward. She's in for one hell of a shock."

Edward rubbed a hand over his face. "What do we do?"

"We need to introduce her to other vampires." This came from Jacob. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees. "I think that's the first step. Do it in a safe, calm environment so she doesn't freak out. I hate to do this to her, Edward, but she needs to know. The Queen could have already sent the Volturi."

"Vampire cops," Rose said at Edward's glance.

"What I want to know is what kind of game Jinx is playing," Jacob said. "What the hell does he hope to gain by forcing Bella to confront what she is?"

"We can't even explain it to her," Edward mourned. "Why couldn't he have waited ...?"

Rose rubbed her temples. "I don't think his timing was accidental. Did she say anything to you about the conversation they had the other day?"

"She told me, 'Shinx trash.' I assumed she meant he had nothing worthwhile to say. She didn't seem to want to talk about it, so I didn't pursue it."

"Well, I think we're all in agreement that whatever he's doing, it can't be good." Jacob looked around their small group. "So, what do we do about it?"

..

* * *

><p>AN: My thanks to all of the wonderful reviewers. Please, forgive me if I am unable to respond to your reviews personally, but I am deep in the midst of the editing process of my book, writing a "WITS" outtake for F4NKH, and a few other projects. I want you to know that I appreciate every single one of them, and that your kindness and support means more to me than simple words can express.


	14. Chapter 14

.

~.~

Chapter Fourteen

~.~

Edward untied the Bella's hands and collapsed beside her in an exhausted, sated heap. She curled herself around his body, snuggling against him contentedly. As he struggled to recover his breath, he tried to find words that would tell her how much he loved her, how precious and special she was, if such words existed.

With Bella, he felt safe enough to unleash some of the fantasies he had never dared to express before. He always been afraid Tanya would reject or mock him. Bella, he reasoned, might refuse, but she wouldn't be cruel or demeaning. A few nights ago, he'd caught her her wrists in his hands and trapped them above her head as a small test and his breath stopped while he waited for her reaction. She had simply smiled and arched against him in a silent demand for more.

Tonight he had taken her bathrobe tie to bind them. He'd lost his nerve as he approached the bed, but she had understood his intentions and smiled as she grabbed the cast iron bars of the headboard. Now, he lifted her hands one at a time and kissed his way around her wrists, checking them for any sign of redness or chafing. His anxiety was back and he couldn't meet her eyes. In the heat of the moment, he had gotten a little rough-

Bella put a finger under his chin and lifted his face until he met her eyes. "No sorry," she told him firmly. She smiled as she brushed the hair back from where it flopped into his eyes. (He needed a haircut, badly.) "Bella love Edwurr fun."

His eyes slipped around her face and finally flicked up to meet hers. She smiled again and cupped his cheek with her palm. He would love nothing more than to spend the rest of the night cuddled with her, but Rose's guest was scheduled to arrive in another hour or so.

"Wash?" he asked.

She nodded. As they left the bed there was a tap at the door. Bella pointed to the bathroom and strolled toward it, gloriously nude and unashamed. He watched her go for a moment until another tap reminded him what he was supposed to be doing. He pulled on his pajama pants and opened the door.

"Am I interrupting?" Jacob asked.

"No, we were just getting ready to take a shower. What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you -" Jacob spotted the bathrobe tie still attached to the headboard. He looked at Edward and arched a brow.

Edward's face burned.

"Tie-upper, or tied up?" Jacob asked.

"Tie-upper," Edward mumbled.

"Huh. Didn't think you had it in you. Just so you know, you don't want to use that kind of knot. Makes it hard to get loose in an emergency."

"Jake, she wouldn't actually be restrained even if I used a logging chain."

Jacob shrugged. "True."

"How do you know about what kind of knots to use in ... this situation, anyway?"

"Boy Scouts."

"You were never a Boy Scout."

Jacob simply grinned.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Was there something you actually wanted or are you just here to deliver bondage tips?"

Jacob blinked. "Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot. Jessica called me."

Edward waited.

"Yeah, weirdest thing. She called to tell me that you left some notes in one of the books at the library."

_Oh, shit._

"I thought it was just an excuse she was using to_ - _Hey, you okay? You look sort of pale."

"I was researching South American vampire legends."

"Fuck," Jacob said, summing up the situation quite succinctly.

"Edwurr!" Bella opened the bathroom door, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her head and thousands of water droplets that sparkled on her skin. Steam billowed out around her. She saw Jacob and waved, but he didn't see because he had quickly averted his eyes, putting a hand to his forehead as a shield.

"Just a minute, honey," Edward called back to her and she shut the bathroom door with a click. "We've got to get those notes back."

"What was in them?"

"I don't know!" Edward groaned. "I took the notes so I wouldn't have to remember."

Jacob paced rapidly for a moment, back and forth in front of the door. "Okay. Okay. We can't do it right now, but we'll have to go to the university tonight. If I know Jessica, she's put them in her file cabinets under 'C' for Cullen and she's probably made backup copies. She's sort of OCD like that."

"Do you know where she would have the copies?"

"Likely in her desk drawer."

"Edwurr!"

"Coming, honey!" Edward called back. "All right. We'll go in tonight and try to get them. Don't you _dare_ say we won't get caught."

"Wasn't going to. Scout's honor."

* * *

><p>An hour later, Bella lay on a pillow on the floor in front of the TV, watching <em>Sesame Street.<em> She kept casting curious looks back at Edward, Jacob, Rose and Emmett. She could tell they were nervous, probably because they sat stock-still on the sofa and chairs, doing nothing, staring into space while they waited for the telephone to ring. Felix stood like a statue next to the door, though how he knew what was going on was anybody's guess.

Rose had called just about every vampire and dayman she knew trying to find someone who could speak a language Bella might know, but more importantly, be able to break the news about what she was in a gentle manner. The vampire scheduled to arrive tonight was a woman named Leah, who had a soft, kind voice and experience with working with agitated vampires. She had been a counselor at Phoenix House, a group home for fledgling vampires who had been abandoned by their creators. She'd had to break the news about being a vampire to many a startled and disbelieving ex-human. Leah had resigned over a "difference of opinion" with the Queen, though she declined to provide any further details. Rose had thus felt confident in explaining the situation to Leah, as it was unlikely the woman intended to report back to the Queen. Leah had warned Rose that she didn't speak ancient Catalupan. She spoke the language of the Tawantinsuyu, or Inca people, and they hoped that perhaps enough traders had traveled between their lands to make the language common in Bella's day.

Edward looked at his watch for the fifth time in two minutes. He was getting downright scared about the situation, truthfully. Bella was - quite simply - his everything, and the Volturi could descend at any moment. They served as police or executioners, depending on the command of the Queen, and if Bella refused to submit to her authority ...

Rose had met Victoria a few times and she assured them that the Queen wasn't mean or unreasonable. If she had sent the Volturi - and Rose admitted it was likely she had - it was probably for observation alone. Victoria wouldn't expect a vampire who'd been in hibernation for five hundred years to immediately log onto a secure server and register. She would give Bella a bit of time to acclimate herself, but if she knew that Rose was with them - another thing Rose admitted was likely - she would expect Bella to be making progress towards becoming an upstanding member of vampire society. Daymen had their own Council, and if Rose was failing in her duty to either bring Bella into the fold or report her as a rogue, her own backside could be in hot water. As with vampires, there were no prisons for daymen. If her crime was considered severe enough to be tried before the court and she was found guilty, there was only one possible punishment.

But there were positive factors working in their favor, Rose said. Bella hadn't killed anyone. She wasn't rebelling against the Queen, trying to set up a rival court, nor threatening to reveal the secrets of the vampire world. She had a stable home with a dayman - not her own, but one present at least - and a dedicated feeder, which meant she didn't even have to hunt for sources of blood.

The phone rang.

Edward and Jacob lunged for it simultaneously and knocked their heads together with an audible _clack!_ Both dropped back in their seats, clutching their injured noggins and moaning.

Rose shook her head slowly. "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of super-genius, or something?" she asked Edward.

"Just answer the goddam phone," Jacob groused.

Rose lifted the receiver. "Hello? ... Yes, we are. Please send her up." She dropped the phone back into its cradle. "She's on her way," she said, unnecessarily.

Bella had gone over to sit on Edward's lap and make soothing noises over the knot on his head. She glared at Jacob as though it was his fault that his head was in Edward's way.

The doorbell rang and Felix sprung into action. Everyone had forgotten he was there until he moved, which was likely how he knew so much about the residents of the home where he worked. He opened the door, but it wasn't Leah who stood there. It was Alice and her face was stormy with mascara-streaked tears. She wore a pink babydoll dress over torn fishnets and the duct-taped combat boots she'd worn on stage. She pushed past Felix without a word and marched over to Emmett, who was still struggling not to laugh over the collision of heads. Her small face was twisted in anger.

"You asshole," she hissed.

"What? Me? What'd I do?"

Fresh tears spilled from Alice's eyes. "Jasper told me how you've been threatening him!"

"That cocksucker," Emmett said in tones of wonder. "I can't believe he'd try to throw this off on me!"

"You leave him alone, Emmett! I can't believe you! You'll call him when you need help, but he's not good enough to date your sister, even though he's probably been out of jail longer than_ you_ have."

"He wasn't in jail," Emmett noted. "He was in _prison_."

Alice rolled her eyes. "What-the-fuck-_ever,_ Emmett. It's none of your business, anyway. You -"

The doorbell rang again. Felix, who had resumed his post and was watching this little drama with avid interest, opened it to reveal a slender woman with black hair, whose pale skin was tinged with copper. She smiled. "Hello, I'm Leah. I believe Rose is - "

"It _is_ my business," Emmett snapped. "Because me and Jake are the ones who have to deal with the fallout when you make _another_ mistake. I hope to God you're using birth control this time because -"

Alice slapped him.

Everyone froze.

"If I've come at a bad time - " Leah started.

Bella leapt off of Edward's lap and stomped over to stand between Alice and Emmett. "You no hit!" Bella snapped. She shook her finger in Alice's face. "You no hit Memet!"

Alice drew herself up to her full height and stared defiantly at Bella. "I'll hit him if I want." She swatted Bella's hand away.

"Oh, shit," Jacob said. "Alice, you -"

Bella grabbed her by the throat, spun around and slammed Alice against the wall, holding her pinned with that one hand clamped around Alice's throat. The toes of Alice's boots scrambled in midair, seeking leverage to relieve the pressure on her throat, but finding none. She gurgled and clawed at Bella's hand.

"Stop, Bella, you'll kill her!" Rose cried. She rushed over to Bella, her hands outstretched, but froze in her tracks when Bella nailed her with a glare.

"You. No. Hit." Bella gave Alice a little shake. "Say."

"Wh- what?" Alice choked. Her face was beginning to turn red.

"You say you no hit," Bella commanded.

"I won't hit anyone," Alice ground out. Bella opened her hand and Alice fell to the carpet, wheezing.

"Hit is bad," Bella declared, and with that pronouncement, she strolled back over to resume her seat on Edward's lap. He was staring at her, open-mouthed.

"Well," Rose said brightly. "Nice to meet you, Leah."

"Likewise," Leah lied. Her eyes visually gauged the distance to the door.

Rose cleared her throat and began to make introductions of the humans in the room. She reached Alice last, who was still prone on the carpet. "Nice ... to meet ... you," she rasped.

"And this is Bella."

Leah left her seat and came over to extend a hand to Bella. It was readily apparent when her scent reached Bella because her nostrils flared as she went statue-still, her eyes wide.

Leah spoke. Bella blinked rapidly and replied slowly, hesitantly. _Oh, thank God._ Now that they knew a language that Bella could understand, Edward could learn -

Leah shook her head and said something in that musical language. Her tone was gentle, coaxing. She tried to take one of Bella's hands in her own, but Bella jerked it away and jumped to her feet. She gazed around at the people gathered in the living room and her expression was one of confusion and hurt. Edward stood and tried to take her into his arms to offer what comfort he could, but she backed away, shaking her head.

Leah said something else and Bella snapped a response. She turned and met Edward's eyes for a moment, a flash of hurt and betrayal before she whirled around and ran for the door. Felix tried to stop her by stepping into her path but he was too slow and she was gone before he could even complete the movement. The stairwell door gaped in her wake. Felix ran for the elevator and punched the call button as Jacob headed for the stairs. "Stay here in case she comes back," he shouted over his shoulder to Edward and then he pounded down the stairs, calling Bella's name.

"I'm sorry," Leah said to Edward.

Rose replied for him. "It's okay, Leah. You tried your best. You couldn't have known how she would react."

Leah stood. "I'd better go. She won't want me here when she returns." She craned her head to look down at Alice. "Do you need a ride?"

"Yes, please," Alice mumbled, and Leah helped her to her feet.

"I'm going out to look for her, too." Emmett said. He fished in his pocket for his keys. He pressed a kiss to Rose's cheek, which made Alice widen her eyes. "I've got my phone if there's any news."

"Be careful," Rose advised him.

Emmett grinned at her. "Always am."

The elevator doors opened and Felix stepped out. His shoulders slumped in dejection. "I've lost her, sir."

"It's okay, Felix," Edward said. "Not your fault." He glanced at his watch and a icy stab of panic hit him in the gut. They only had three hours before sunrise.

* * *

><p>The Dark Goddess wandered down the darkened streets, her arms tightly hugged around her waist. The pavement was wet below her bare feet.<p>

She didn't understand any of it. Why would Edwurr have wanted her to meet that woman? Did he believe the things Leah had said? She went back over the conversation in her mind and it made as little sense now as it had then.

Shock had made her feet freeze when she caught the scent. The woman smelled like a Goddess, but that made no sense, because there was only one. Unless this woman was intended to be her replacement, just as Bella had replaced the Goddess before. Once, she had longed for it, but now the prospect terrified her.

"Hello, Bella. I came because I would like to speak to you, if I may." She spoke the language of the Tawantinsuyu, which made no sense, because that people did not worship the Dark Goddess.

"What do you want?" the Dark Goddess asked slowly, for it had been many years since she'd heard that language.

"Only to speak with you," Leah replied. "I'm told you have not seen another of our kind since you arrived."

"Our kind?"

"Vampires."

The Dark Goddess didn't know that word. She shook her head slightly.

"Drinkers of blood. The endless-ageless."

"Gods."

Leah leaned forward and tried to take one of Bella's hands into her own. "No, Bella, we are not gods. We are creatures of the world, much like others."

The Dark Goddess jerked her hand away from Leah.

_Liar!_

Why had Edwurr brought this woman to her? Why would he want her to doubt her own divinity? Did _he_ doubt it? But he had seen what she could do!

There was a door at the end of the hall that led to stairs. She ran down them, faster and faster. The people in the lobby didn't even see her as she passed, though they felt the breeze stirred up and looked up with confused frowns. She burst out onto the street. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she had to get away. Her instincts were shouting confused messages to her. _Run. Defend your territory. Hide. Fight._ If she stayed, she'd rip that woman to shreds. Her vision was blurred by the pink tears that streamed down her cheeks.

She found herself on a path beside the river, filthy-smelling, with sharp chemical odors and waste. She watched the brown water churn by sluggishly. Her hands gripped the metal rail so tightly that it bent beneath the pressure from her fingers.

None of this made sense. She'd been worshiped by millions of people through the ages. They could not all be wrong. She heard their prayers; she could look into their eyes and hear their heart's desire and she could grant it if their soul was pure. She could make the rain fall from the sky when it was needed. She could -

She dashed the tears out of her eyes. They just didn't understand, she decided. She hadn't been able to explain properly. Whoever this woman was - that _charlatan_ - she didn't know what she was talking about. The Dark Goddess was a little angry at herself for letting that woman shake her faith so badly. She must have been an evil Goddess from a far-off land; she had never met one, but she had heard of them in the old tales. A Goddess of doubt and discord who had tricked all of her humans into believing her. That thought made the Dark Goddess feel a little better. As she learned more of their language, she would be able to better explain.

A group of young men walked toward her, hooting and shouting words she didn't understand amid peals of laughter. She glared at them for disturbing her peace and walked away. No respect for the Goddess any longer. No worshipers. Leah had said there were many of her kind now and humans didn't even seem to notice what they were. She turned down a narrow path between buildings. The stink that came from the green angular containers beside the doors made her gag.

A dead end. She turned around to head back the way she had come and saw the group of young men blocking the entrance. One of them stepped out in front of the group and gave her an evil smile. He said something that made his friends laugh and rubbed his crotch. The Dark Goddess looked away in disgust.

She heard a shout from behind her and a man rose from a pile of garbage beside one of the doors. His scent had been concealed beneath the stink of refuse.

"Paa!" she said in surprise. It was the man who had laughed so joyfully when she splashed in the fountain. But he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the group of young men and snapping back at them in tones of indignation.

The group's leader rolled his eyes and pulled a knife from his pocket.

Paa's scent became sharp with fear, but he stood his ground. He grabbed a metal stick from the garbage pile and brandished it at them. The men laughed and charged forward.

She was wasn't going to let them hurt Paa. She lashed out with her power and threw them against the wall. She heard the wet snap of bones, screams of pain. They crumpled to join the other garbage along the walls.

There was a clatter as Paa's metal stick fell from his slack hand. He looked at the broken, groaning men and then back at the Dark Goddess. Slowly, back and forth. His expression became that of wonder.

"Paa good," she said. He had been willing to risk his life to defend her against those men, though it hadn't been needed. "Come," she ordered him and he followed her meekly and obediently as she traced her own scent trail back to the tall building where she dwelt. He hesitated outside the doors and she gestured him forward. The expression of the woman at the desk made the Dark Goddess angry. She looked at Paa like he was an insect in her soup bowl.

"Give Paa house," the Dark Goddess commanded her.

The woman turned to blink at her. She said something, her tone incredulous.

"Give Paa house!" the Dark Goddess repeated and stamped her bare foot.

The guard, who had been leaning negligently against the desk while this conversation went on said the name that the humans called the Dark Goddess. The woman looked startled and then her expression changed to one of obsequiousness, but the Dark Goddess wasn't interested in her babbled apologies. She extended her hand and waited. The woman scrambled through the papers on the desk, pushed buttons on her machine and finally put one of those flat, hard cards into the Dark Goddess's palm. She turned to give it to Paa.

Tears formed in his eyes. He stared at the card for a moment and then asked her something she didn't understand. She waved the card at him, urging him to take it.

The tears made clean streaks on his dirty cheeks. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Wekkcom," Bella told him. "You go sleep."

* * *

><p>Edward grabbed Bella in a hard hug when she came through the door. She saw the worry in his face and gave him an apologetic look.<p>

"Bella sorry."

"You scared me," he told her. He pulled his phone from his pocket and sent out a text to Jacob, Emmett and Felix: _She's home._

_"_Bella sayve," she told him. "Paa sleep here."

He had no idea what she was talking about. "Safe" was the only word that mattered. He buried his face in her hair and held her tightly.

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon when Esme arrived and Edward was still asleep. He stumbled from the bedroom when Felix woke him ... and reminded Edward to don pants before he went into the living room. Felix was worth his weight in gold.<p>

"Hello, mother," Edward yawned as he shuffled into the living room. Felix brought him a glass of juice as he sat down on the sofa. Edward thanked him in surprise. He'd just been thinking about how thirsty he was. (He was always thirsty when he woke up if Bella had fed from him the night before.)

"Hello, darling. Late night?"

"Something like that." Edward suppressed another yawn and drank some of his juice.

"I apologize for waking you, but I wanted to ask you if you knew why there's a homeless man living in one of the executive suites downstairs."

Edward shook his head. "No, I can't say that I do."

Esme accepted a cup of coffee from Felix. "Brenda at the desk said that your wife came in with him and demanded she give him a 'house.'"

That sounded like something Bella would do. He decided to play it off as Esme would have herself, if it were her decision in question. "Is there a problem I need to address?"

Esme smiled slightly as she sipped her coffee. "Not at all, darling."

Bella padded from the bedroom, wearing only one of Edward's t-shirts. She smiled when she saw Esme. "Muvver!"

"Hello, dear," his mother replied and lifted a cheek for Bella to kiss. "I was just asking Edward about the homeless man downstairs."

Bella sat down beside Edward and tilted her head quizzically.

Esme plucked a small silver-covered notebook from her purse and said. "His name is ... Paul Lahote."

"Paa!" Bella nodded.

"Who is he, dear?"

Bella considered for a moment and then stood. She gave a leer and a hoot and circled her hand in front of her pelvis with a salacious grin. Then she pointed to herself and said, "Paa," and pretended to brandish a club.

"Oh, dear," Esme said softly. "Doe she mean she was almost assaulted and that man downstairs protected her?"

Edward felt sick. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what she means."

Esme thought for a moment. "I have some work to do." She stood and kissed her son and daughter-in-law before she left.

"What was that all about?" Jacob asked. He emerged from the kitchen with a big sandwich on a plate.

"That homeless man kept Bella from being raped last night." Edward buried his hands in his hair, horrified beyond words that something so awful might have happened to her. Bella didn't understand the dangers of their world yet and he had failed to protect her.

"What?" Jacob said, around a large bite of his sandwich. "Edward, reality check, here: There isn't a man alive who could hurt Bella."

The woman in question had turned on the television and was engrossed in an episode of _Blues Clues. _she certainly didn't seem to be traumatized by her experience, but still ...

"She shouldn't have been in that situation," Edward argued. "I failed her."

"If you failed her, we all failed her," Jacob said. He laid aside his sandwich plate. "Rose failed her for trying to get her to accept the truth before she was ready, and because she's supposed to be Bella's bodyguard. Felix failed her for letting her get out the door. I failed her because I thought it was a good idea for her to meet another vampire. We're all responsible."

Edward said nothing.

"Look, I know you're going to blame yourself because that's just your nature, but it'd be nice if you listened to me for once. You didn't fail her and she wasn't in any danger, except if she hadn't gotten back before sunrise. She's strong, Edward, both physically and mentally." Jacob resumed eating his sandwich and it was his casual demeanor which convinced Edward more than his words. Despite Jacob's rather laid-back approach to life, he would be beating himself up worse than Edward was doing now if he thought their actions had endangered Bella.

"On another note," Jacob continued as he swallowed the last bite, "we have a bit of breaking-and-entering that needs done tonight. Jessica left me a voice mail about your notes. She's not letting this one go."

Edward sighed. "Do you think your keycard will still work?"

* * *

><p>At three a.m., the campus was deserted. Edward had spent enough late nights here, doing research or working on experiments, to know that. His keycard opened the door and they slipped inside La Push Hall, which housed the history and anthropology departments. The halls were lit dimly at night and so silent that they could hear the buzzing of the single fluorescent panel illuminated. Edward's sneakers squeaked a little on the polished tile floor and they both winced every time it happened.<p>

They reached the door of Jacob's office. _JACOB BLACK, Ph.D._ was painted in black on the opaque glass panel set into the door. Jacob held his breath as he inserted his key. The light turned green and they both sighed with relief. Jacob pulled open the door and they slipped inside. His office looked like it had been struck by a hurricane with books and papers stacked everywhere, but somehow, Jacob knew where everything was. There was only a narrow path free of debris that led to his desk and do a second door, this one with a removable nameplate slid into brass holders. _JESSICA STANLEY_, it read. For some reason, Austlyn never included the educational titles of TAs on their nameplate, which Edward had always thought was a little unfair.

Jacob inserted his card into the reader and pushed open Jessica's door. Her office was tiny, but perfectly neat. Her oak desk had not a speck of dust and the plants in the window looked well-watered and healthy. Jacob grabbed the handle on her file cabinet and yanked. It didn't budge.

"Shit. It's locked."

"Would she have stored a key around here somewhere?"

"I dunno. Check the desk."

Edward pulled on the center drawer. "Locked."

"Fuck." Jacob rubbed his temples. "Okay." He slid the backpack from his shoulder and pulled out a flashlight and a small kit of some kind. "Hold this," he said and handed the light to Edward. Edward focused the beam on the lock as Jacob inserted two small metal rods.

"When did you learn how to pick locks?"

"Yesterday."

"You're kidding."

"Wish I was. I had to ask Emmett to show me, just in case we ran into this problem. He was nice enough to loan me a set of his picks."

"We'll pick up a Thank You card at Walgreens on the way home."

Jacob snickered. "Anyway, he said these should be petty simple locks and I should be able to - _There!" _There was a distinct click and the file cabinet drawer slid open easily. Jacob rooted through the files. "Yep, just as I thought. _Cullen_."

He opened it and took out the small sheaf of papers. "These are copies. She must have the originals in her de -" Jacob fell silent.

"What?"

He turned around and held up a slightly blurry photo of Bella singing onstage at Tuneville.


	15. Chapter 15

.

~.~

Chapter Fifteen

~.~

"How the hell did she get - ?" Edward started and then they both froze for a horrified instant and stared at one another as they heard Jacob's office door open. Jacob stuffed the file back into the cabinet and shoved the drawer closed. He and Edward dove under the desk and tied to compact themselves as much as possible, but Jacob was six and a half feet of solid muscle and Edward was only a few inches shorter, and neither were built for being crunched up in the knee-hole of a desk, though the desk was an old one, and mercifully wide. In the dimness, their eyes met.

_We're fucked, _Edward mouthed.

Jacob rolled his eyes heavenward and pressed his palms together in prayer. Edward jabbed him with an elbow. Now was not the time to be provoking the Almighty.

The door opened and the lights were switched on. A female voice hummed, so off-key that the tune was indecipherable. On the other side of the desk, a pair of low beige heels walked toward the file cabinet. There was a grating _snick_ that sounded like a key being slid into a lock. "Huh!" she said when she discovered that it was already unlocked.

She didn't have time to think about the implications because there was a tap at the door. Her feet disappeared as she went to answer it.

"I'm glad you could make it," Jessica said.

"This better be good," Tanya warned her. "Meeting you here at this time of the night? This is nuts."

"It had to be here," Jessica said. "And this is the only time of day that it was safe, that I could be sure we weren't overheard."

There was another tap.

"There she is," Jessica sighed, sounding relieved. "Right on time."

Tanya's pair of tanned-orange feet, clad in ridiculously high heels, appeared at the edge of the desk. She dropped down into one of the two chairs placed there. Her Prada bag dropped to the floor beside it and Noodles peeked out. Edward gave the dog a menacing glare and it vanished back into the safety of the bag.

"Jessica?" Lauren's voice was petulant. "What's going on?"

"You know Tanya, don't you?"

"We've met a few times at faculty parties," Lauren said, and from her tone, she wasn't too impressed. The two women exchanged cool, clipped greetings.

"This was the only time it was safe," Jessica repeated.

"Safe from _what_?" Tanya demanded.

A pair of black leather ankle boots, appeared in front of the other chair.

"I'm sorry it's so late, but Lauren isn't supposed to be on campus until after the hearing. I even checked the janitor's schedule to make sure the building would be vacant, so we wouldn't be overheard."

Tanya sighed loudly. "We couldn't meet at your house, or mine?"

"No, I'm pretty sure my place is being watched and yours ... _She_ has already been inside your house."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jessica demanded.

Jessica walked around to her side of the desk and pulled her chair back before she sat down in it. Edward scrambled back. His elbow caught Jacob in the gut and he expelled a breath with a little grunt. Edward ended up on top of Jacob, wedged up against the bottom of the desk. Jessica scooted her chair in and stopped with her knee a millimeter from Edward's nose. He was afraid to breathe, lest she feel it. He turned his head and pressed his cheek against the bottom of the center drawer.

"Okay, I know how crazy this sounds," Jessica started. "It's about Bella Cullen ..."

"Edward's _wife_?" Tanya spat the last word out like it tasted bad.

"Yeah, her. I ... um ... I'll just come out with it: I think she's a vampire."

Both Edward and Jacob stopped breathing because the silence was so deep, they were sure it would be heard. Their eyes met in mutual horror.

Tanya laughed, not a laugh of amusement, but one of derision. Edward had heard it many times, often directed toward himself. "A _what_?"

"Just hear me out. I saw Edward in the library a couple of days ago and he was studying South American vampire legends."

"So?"

"He made notes comparing their traits to a 'B'." There was another _snick_ as she inserted a key into the central drawer. Jacob tried to flatten himself, but there was nowhere for him to go. Edward winced she pulled the drawer out along his cheek and then pushed it back in swiftly. There was a rustle of paper as she presumably passed the notes to the two women on the other side of the desk.

"That doesn't prove anything," Tanya said.

"Lauren, you saw her down in South America, right?"

"Yes."

"Right after a mummy had gone missing from the temple."

"We can't prove there ever _was_ a mummy," Lauren said slowly. "There should have been debris in the bottom of the sarcophagus."

"Not if it was actually a vampire in there and they ... you know ... woke it up."

"Jessica, this is just _crazy_," Lauren protested.

"She's got them both under a spell," Jessica insisted. "That's why they're acting so weird. Tanya, you told me yourself that Edward never would have broken up with you if he was in his right mind."

"That's true ..."

"Have either of you ever seen her during the day?"

Silence.

Tanya was the one who broke it. "I haven't exactly been watching."

"Well,_ I_ have," Jessica announced. "I've parked outside their building for the last week, and I haven't seen her leave during the daytime _at all."_

_"_You parked outside their building?" Lauren repeated slowly.

"Well, I couldn't hang out in the lobby. They have a guard. I had to park down the street because I didn't want Jake to see me and think I'm some sort of crazy stalker."

Jacob and Edward's eyes met again. Jacob swirled a finger in the air next to his temple.

"I did think it was weird when Esme said Bella doesn't speak Spanish," Tanya mused. "I mean, it's like the _language_ of Catalupa, you know?"

Jessica didn't comment on that brilliant insight. "After I saw the book and notes, I started keeping an eye on Edward's library records. I saw a notation that today, he called the library and asked for us to us to use the inter-library loan system to get him a book on Quechua, the language the Incans spoke."

Edward closed his eyes. _Damn it._

"Why would he want that?" Tanya asked. "Didn't they all die out, like, a million years ago or something?"

Jake had to bite the side of his fist to keep from laughing. His body shook silently. Edward elbowed him again.

"No, there are still speakers of Quechua," Lauren told her in a terribly grave voice that trembled, just a bit, from her own efforts to keep from laughing. "If she was sealed in that tomb since the pre-Columbian era ..." Lauren's voice trailed off as she gave a small, rueful laugh. "This is just _crazy."_

"Think about it," Jessica urged. "Did they run _before_ or _after_ you reported the tomb had been robbed?"

Lauren sounded startled as she answered, "Before ..."

"It makes no sense that Jake would suddenly decide to abandon the find of the century and go on the run ... Unless they had something – or some_one_ - to hide."

Lauren said nothing and Edward wondered if she was remembering her blackmail attempt. She certainly didn't volunteer it as an alternative explanation.

"I know the bartender at Tuneville." Jessica continued. "He said she didn't drink anything at all when she was there. Who goes to a bar and doesn't _drink_?"

Both Tanya and Lauren agreed that was bizarre behavior.

"My friend Becky was there. She said she _jumped_ straight up on the stage. No girl should able to jump that high. She didn't get a picture of it, but she did get a picture of her singing." There was a light thump as Jessica dropped the hand holding the picture onto the table, like a prosecutor in a crime drama throwing down the damning evidence that caught he defendant in a lie. There was a solemn silence as they all apparently studied it. "She sang two songs without even knowing English. From what Becky said, it was kind of garbled, like she was just repeating sounds she'd heard, but the legends say vampires have superpowers that let them do that kind of stuff."

"She knocked me down without touching me," Tanya said softly. "I didn't tell anyone because it just sounded so ... No one would believe me, I thought. But I swear it's true."

"That's why I said we couldn't meet at your house," Jessica said. "She's been in there. I don't know if she can come into public buildings like this without an invitation, but it seemed this was the safer bet. And my place is being watched now. I _know_ it. If we can get rid of her, Jake and Edward will go back to their old selves. And we can pick up from where we left off."

"_We_?" Lauren snapped.

There was a long moment of silence. "Jake will have a chance to decide which one of us he wants."

"He doesn't want _you,_ that's for sure," Lauren shot. "He's never even tried to get in your pants."

"He _respects_ me," Jessica snarled. "Which is more than I can say for _you_. He's just not ready for a committed relationship yet, but as soon as he is, I'm the girl he - "

"Wait, wait," Tanya interjected. "Girls, you can fight about this later. I want to know more about this spell and how we can break it."

Jessica's toes tapped on the carpet. "All of the legends say they can control people, make them do their evil bidding."

Tanya snorted. "You don't need a spell for that with Edward."

"Bitch!" Jacob muttered and then clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't say anything."

"So, Edward and Jake are like Renfield ... eating bugs and shit?" Lauren interjected.

"What?" Tanya asked. "What's a Renfield?"

"You know, from _Dracula_."

"I never saw that movie," Tanya said dismissively. "So, how do we break the spell?"

"I've got some ideas we can try. Come with me." Jessica scooted her chair back and rose. Lauren and Tanya followed her from the room. Lauren was asking for more details about the incident where Bella knocked Tanya across the room without laying a finger on her. The door closed behind them and then they heard Jacob's office door shut.

Both of them released sighs and began the task of prying and untangling themselves from their cramped positions. Jacob snatched Edward's notes from the top of the desk where Jessica had left them and then yanked open the file cabinet to grab the manila folder that contained the copies. Jacob opened his door cautiously and peeked into the hall. When he found it clear, he motioned to Edward and the two of them ran like hell for the front door. They burst outside into the cool air and ran through the parking lot. Jacob had parked Emmett's Rabbit in the lot in front of one of the dorms. They reached it simultaneously and Jacob fumbled with the keys. He slid into the driver's seat and reached over to pull up the lock button on Edward's door. He jumped inside. "Go, go, go!"

The tires screeched as Jacob floored it, shooting backwards out of the parking space and then he rammed it into drive. Smoke rose from behind them, though from the tires or the piss-poor exhaust system, no one could say. Jacob ran the stop sign at the end of the parking lot and swerved out onto the street.

"Holy _shit_ that was close," Jacob gasped.

"Never again," Edward vowed. "Consider this my official retirement from the life of crime."

"Thank God she didn't push her chair all the way in, huh?" Jacob gave him an exhilarated smile that made Edward want to smack him upside the head.

"What the hell are we going to now, Jacob? They know about Bella, or think they do, anyway."

Jacob's grin faded. "I don't know."

Both of them thought about it silently. Edward shoved his hands through his hair. His thoughts were rushing by like floodwaters, jumbled and disordered.

"We're going to have to step up security," Jacob said suddenly. "If Jessica was able to sit out there for days without anyone noticing ..."

"Did you know she was ..." Edward's voice trailed off.

"A bat-shit insane stalker chick?" Jacob offered. "No, I had no idea."

"I was going to say something along the lines of: 'emotionally attached to you'."

Jacob shook his head. "Rose said something while we were on the ship, but I thought it was just ... I don't know, a little crush. That Rose was misinterpreting something, maybe." He groaned. "Damn it, I'm going to have to get a new TA."

Edward laughed and at Jacob's indignant glance, he laughed even harder. Of all of the problems that had bloomed tonight like rancid flowers, Jacob was focused on having to get a new assistant.

"Jessica, Lauren and Tanya... Jesus, what a terrible trio," Jacob shuddered.

"Maybe we should have stayed and followed them to listen to their plans."

Jacob scoffed. "What are they going to do? They can't actually _hurt_ Bella, and I doubt they're going to do anything publicly that could bring her to the attention of the Volturi. They know how crazy all of this sounds. But I think it's time we called in the cavalry."

"Who?"

"Your mother."

"Hold up. You think we should tell my mother that Bella is a vampire?"

Jacob shrugged. "Five bucks says she's cool with it. She loves Bella. Thinks she's all graceful and ladylike and shit."

"No way." Edward shook his head. "Just … no. We'll do it if we have to, but not now."

* * *

><p>Jacob was still asleep when Felix knocked on his door the next afternoon and told him they had a visitor. Jacob grumbled as he pulled on his clothes. Why the hell hadn't Felix woken Edward instead? It was <em>his<em> apartment, wasn't it?

He didn't recognize the man in the living room, who stood when Jacob entered. He had neatly groomed dark-brown hair and was wearing a suit that even Jacob could tell must be designer from the cut and fine cloth.

"Hello," Jacob said, extending his hand. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."

The man took it and gave it a firm shake. "Paul Lahote."

"No shit?" Jacob blurted and Paul laughed.

"Yes, I imagine I look a bit different than I did the last time you saw me."

"Yeah, wow … um, have a seat."

They both sat down, Paul on the sofa and Jacob on one of the arm chairs. "I wanted to thank Mrs. Cullen but Felix told me she isn't available at the moment."

"Esme?" Jacob blinked. "Oh, wait! You mean Bella."

"Yes, Bella." Paul said the name with the sort of reverence usually reserved for venerated saints or deities. "She and the other Mrs. Cullen have been so … so …" Paul stopped for a moment as he searched for a word. "Well, 'kind' doesn't really cover it."

"Yeah, Bella's a great girl." Jacob smiled. "Don't call her Mrs. Cullen, though. She won't know who you're talking about."

"I know this may sound crazy, but is she _…special_? I saw something that –" He shook his head. "Something that should be impossible."

Jacob nodded. "She is special, but we're still grateful that you stuck your neck out for her."

Paul smiled and indicated his suit. "Mrs. Cullen has been showing her appreciation most generously. She gave me a job at Masen International even before I told her I used to have an MBA."

A homeless guy with a business degree? Paul chuckled at the expression on Jacob's face. "Yes, I once had an MBA, from Stanford, believe it or not."

_Once had_? "What happened?" Jacob hoped like hell he wasn't being offensive, but his curiosity was too intense to be ignored.

Felix brought in a tray and offered them both cups of coffee. Paul waited until he had departed before he answered. "It was a combination of drugs, gambling and stubborn hubris. I was hired by a Fortune 500 company, which shall remain nameless, right out of college. I was the new Boy Wonder, the young hotshot who thought he would rule the world, and for a while there, it actually seemed like I might. Everything I touched turned to gold and I thought I was a genius. The gambling was an offshoot of that; I thought every decision and choice I made was perfect, and for a short while, it seemed as though I really did have a charmed life. My gambling and speculative investments paid off. I married one of the most beautiful socialites in New York and I kept rising higher and higher through the company ranks."

Paul took a sip of his coffee and shook his head. "I was an arrogant, egotistical asshole, to tell you the truth. I was like a religious fanatic, but I was my own god and I believed I was infallible. The ego led me to take bigger and bigger risks. Many of them paid off. But some of them didn't, which was a real shock to my system. I threw more money into the failures because I couldn't admit I was wrong and I was convinced that it would turn around and eventually prove that I had been right all along. It was the same thing with the gambling. When I started to lose, I'd bet even more. The stress started to build and I started using coke, which gave me back that untouchable feeling."

Jacob nodded. He had only tried cocaine once and he had felt that incredible rush of power and invincibility that Paul described. It had been so intense that it scared Jacob a little because he knew it would be very easy to become addicted to that sensation. He'd never touched the stuff again.

"Before I knew it, I was in debt and it got deeper as I grew more desperate and reckless. I began to borrow - just a bit, I told myself - from the company coffers. Investments I had made for the company began to fail and I tried to hide the losses, did idiotic things like selling off good investments to pay for the bad."

"How did you get caught?" Jacob asked, because it really was the inevitable conclusion.

"I couldn't hide it forever because at some point, someone was going to look at the books and I wouldn't be able to bullshit my way out of it. One of the men whose career I'd ruined with casual disregard on my way up the corporate ladder unraveled the whole mess and laid it out in front of the board of directors. Firing me was a foregone conclusion, but they decided to keep the embezzlement quiet. The scandal would have destroyed what little they had left. One of the board members was also on the Stanford board of regents. They did some digging and found that I'd plagiarized some of my papers, so my degree was revoked. My wife left me, the few friends I had deserted me and I was broke. I found myself literally tossed out onto the street with nowhere to go."

"Jesus," Jacob said softly.

"I had no one to blame but myself, though it took me a long time to come to a point where I could admit it."

"Do you still have a drug problem?"

"No. I'm a friend of Bill W."

Jacob understood. He'd dragged his father to many Alcoholics Anonymous meetings over the years and knew that Narcotics Anonymous used the same steps and traditions.

"I've been clean for four years," Paul said, pride evident in his tone.

Jacob was startled. "You've been out on the streets for four years?"

"Twelve, actually."

Jacob shook his head slowly in awe. How had Paul survived so long out there?

"Couldn't you have ... I don't know ..."

Paul nodded. "I understand what you're saying. You're wondering why I couldn't have gotten even a minimum wage job and got myself off the streets with some sort of assistance program. The truth is that up until four years ago, I was too strung-out to work anywhere, especially since so many employers drug test these days. When you put in an application, the first thing they ask for is an address and they want a phone number where they can contact you. I suppose I could have used a shelter's address, but if an employer had called there looking to speak with me ... Well, people often talk more compassionately about the homeless than they act when they're confronted with one. My application would likely have been shuffled quietly to the bottom of the pile in favor of a more _normal_ applicant, and even if I had gotten an interview, what was I going to say I'd been doing for nearly a decade? That's quite a gap to have on a resume. When I finally got clean, I felt like I didn't deserve anything better, considering how I had wasted my life and the amazing opportunities that had been handed to me."

"And now?"

"Esme offered to pay for it if I want to go back to school and earn a degree and I think I'm going to do it. I admit that I don't really know if there's a Higher Power or not, but I've been blessed with a second chance and I know how rare and precious that is."

"You risked your life to try to protect Bella. It's the least we can do."

The woman in question emerged from Edward's bedroom wearing a bathrobe and her favorite pair of pink bunny slippers. Her eyes lit up when she saw their guest. "Paa!"

"Good evening, Bella," Paul replied and rose to his feet. He stuck out his hand for her to shake, but she bounded over and grabbed him in a hug. "Paa pretty!"

"Thanks to you," Paul said. He smiled at her. "I'm not sure you'll understand all of this, but I'm deeply grateful for all that you and Esme have done for me. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, _thank you._"

"Wekkom." Bella smiled and patted his shoulder. "Paa good. Bella tankoo."

Paul took her hand in his and bent over it to press a kiss to the back. Jacob hid a smile. Bella had a new worshiper.

* * *

><p>The <em>Quechua<em> textbook arrived the next morning and Edward put the full power of his prodigious brain behind learning the language.

Edward had a knack for languages and learned quickly, despite the fact that there were multiple dialects, and Bella's dialect was a bit different than those covered by the text, but with the notes he had made on the deviations in pronunciation (her dialect lacked the Spanish consonant sounds and terms that had become part of some of the variations), which were thankfully uniform. Bella was very excited that Edward was learning a language they could finally share, and eagerly assisted him.

Jacob tried, but he didn't have a tenth of Edward's almost preternatural intellect. The textbook was in Spanish, which Jacob couldn't read, which meant he couldn't study on his own. Edward had endless patience, but Jacob did not and he got frustrated with the slow pace. He wondered, not for the first time, how Edward saw ordinary people like himself, unable to gasp concepts that Edward understood easily, their minds learning with the pace of a tortoise while his was the hare that had already won the race and was now occupied with making origami animals.

Within a few days, Edward was able to have simple conversations with her and within a week after that, they were chatting and laughing with one another while Jacob was still trying to memorize word lists and personal noun suffixes. Edward kept Jacob apprised of the details he'd learned from Bella, how she'd become the Dark Goddess and what her life had been like until she decided to go into hibernation, and her grief over her priests, her confusion about why they'd never woken her. Jacob wondered about what they had found in her temple, the stones that had been moved aside, that had revealed the stairs to her hibernation chamber below. Had one of her priests moved them and been interrupted before he could complete the task? He didn't suggest Edward mention it to her.

Jacob had plenty of time to study because they were more-or-less holed up in the apartment like a fortress. Jessica no longer parked near the building once she had been confronted by the building's security. Instead, she circled the block around the building in endless loops. It made Edward paranoid and the stress on his face whenever Jacob suggested an outing made him decide to stop mentioning it until Edward calmed down a little.

Jacob was studying in the living room when Felix escorted Esme inside. "Hello, Mrs. Cullen," he said and rose politely to his feet.

"Hello, Jacob," she replied. Since their return from Catalupa, Esme had warmed to him slightly. It seemed that she had finally resigned herself to the fact that Jacob would be a part of her son's life. "Where is Edward?"

"In his room. I'll get him."

He tapped on Edward's door and it was only a few moments before Edward answered. Bella was still asleep and he had been lying on the bed beside her, reading. He emerged to kiss his mother on the cheek.

"Hello, darling. Do you have plans for tomorrow evening?"

"Not specifically, no," Edward said.

Esme smiled. "Good. Then you won't mind coming to my party."

Edward grimaced. "Mother …"

"You never had a proper wedding nor reception. I want to introduce my daughter-in-law to society."

"Can't it wait until she learns English?"

"Oh, no one at these things ever has anything interesting to say, anyway," Esme replied. "I've told my friends and they understand."

_Warned them_, most likely. Esme's daughter-in-law _would_ be accepted, even if Esme had wage constant war to make it so. If Edward had married Tanya, Esme would have done the same thing, even if she privately ground her teeth over it. Bella hadn't even laid eyes on these matriarchs of social power and she already had more clout than all of them.

"Bree will deliver a dress for her sometime this evening." Which meant she had anticipated her son's acceptance and he was going whether he liked it or not.

"She already has a lot of formal dresses."

Esme swished a hand dismissively. "Every girl is thrilled with getting something new. Please arrive at La Push around nine."

Edward hated La Push. He'd attended at least half a dozen parties at that restaurant. It was always packed with well-dressed and wealthy patrons who came to see and be seen while they nibbled on colossally expensive and beautifully presented dishes that were usually as flavorless as Play-Doh.

"Bella will love it," Esme declared. "Jacob, will you bring a date?"

Jacob blinked. He'd been paying more attention to his word list than to the conversation. "I …uh … I think so." He had no idea whom he'd ask because he wasn't seeing anyone currently.

"Lovely. I'll see you tomorrow evening. Give Bella my love, Edward." She kissed her son's cheek and headed for the door. Edward waited until she'd left before he collapsed with a groan.

"I'd rather get a root canal," he muttered.

"It won't be so bad," Jacob promised. "I'll run interference for you like I did last time and you can hide out until it's over."

"What about Bella?"

"What about her? She was fine at Tuneville."

"No, she wasn't. They noticed she didn't drink anything and made that jump onto the stage. What if she does something else that looks … vampy?"

Jacob snickered. "Is that a word?"

"Fuck you. I'm worried."

"About Bella or about having to go to a party?"

"Both," Edward grumbled. "This is a bad idea. There will be media there."

"Edward, they were going to find out about your marriage sooner or later. Frankly, I'm surprised it's stayed quiet as long as it has. Don't worry. You can talk to Bella now, at least enough to help her understand what she needs to do."

Edward nodded, but he didn't seem reassured.


	16. Chapter 16

.

~.~

ChapterSixteen

~.~

Bree brought Bella a long peach-pink gown, which seemed to be comprised of dozens of layers of gauze. Rosettes decorated the shoulders with gauze trains flowing from them to the ground in the back to join the skirt that fanned out behind her as she walked. Bella squealed when she saw it and began to strip on the spot. Bree wasn't as shocked this time, but she still departed quickly, shaking her head.

Bella looked like a fairy princess in it. Edward personally thought Esme was over-doing the "sweet and innocent" look a bit, but she was an expert on projecting the correct image for a particular situation. Bella would look young and angelic among Esme's jaded friends in their sexy, bold gowns.

Rose swept Bella's hair up on top of her head, held in place with pearl combs and left tendrils to dangle down to frame her face. She did Bella's makeup as well – then had to re-do it after she left the room for a moment and returned to find Bella merrily painting her face with various colors. She finally emerged from their bedroom when Rose had finished and Edward was stunned speechless by her beauty. She wore a choker of pearls, loaned by Esme. She lowered her head, a little bashful, and asked, "Bella pretty?"

It was another moment before Edward could summon the power of speech. "Bella _very_ pretty. You look gorgeous, sweetheart."

She smiled and he was stunned anew. She studied Edward, already dressed in his black suit and said, "Edwurr _very_ pretty." She stroked a hand down his cheek and he caught it to press a kiss into the palm while he gazed deeply into her eyes.

Jacob smiled to himself and went to go get dressed. Once they got going with that, they would be occupied for a while.

They arrived at La Push around nine and Edward groaned when he saw the size of the crowd. Invitations to Esme Cullen's parties were highly coveted and attended by the rich and powerful, as well as celebrities and socialites. (She was selective; fame and fortune alone would not guarantee an invitation. There was a certain famous young heiress that Esme refused to associate with because of her crass, scandalous behavior.) The media flocked to her events, snapping pictures of the attendees as they entered the venue, climbing nearby trees to try to get shots through windows, bribing staff to take photographs inside, which was why Esme preferred to have her own employees serve the guests instead of those employed at the restaurant.

No one paid any attention to the Rabbit as it crept toward the restaurant, which was precisely why they had driven it. Bella was seated on Edward's lap in the passenger seat and she craned her neck to watch curiously the flashes of light and shouts from the crowd lining the walkway to the restaurant's front door. Rose and Emmett were scrunched up in the back. Rose was Jacob's "date" for the evening, dressed in a rather modest black gown that she somehow managed to make daring and sexy. There was a click as Emmett checked his gun for the third time since they'd left the apartment.

"Would you quit playing with that thing?" Rose griped.

"Sorry, Rosie. I'm just nervous."

"Everything will be fine," Rose said, and it wasn't directed solely at Emmett. Both Edward and Jacob were as tense as whores in church.

Jacob drove around back of the restaurant, as he'd been directed, and parked in an adjoining garage, which had a sign proclaiming that it was to be used by invited guests only and had a guard to enforce that rule. He only let them pass when he was shown an invitation, which, fortunately, Rose had remembered to tuck inside her purse. It had a covered walkway that led to the restaurant, walled on the sides by thick hedges and topped with a striped canvas roof.

Bella gazed around as they walked, and excitement sparkled in her eyes. She held Edward's hand as they made their way to the wrought iron gate at the end. They presented their invitation again and the gate was opened.

They stepped into a beautiful garden, illuminated with hundreds of strands of tiny white lights above, and twined through the topiary. In the center, a dance floor had been laid and a small quartet of musicians behind a screen of shrubbery sawed at their instruments. Bella sighed softly. "Pretty!"

"Darling, right on time," Esme praised. She wore a dark blue gown that swept the ground behind her in a train, subtly similar to Bella's. Sapphires glittered on her neck and ears. She kissed Edward and Bella and threaded her arm through her daughter-in-law's. "There are so many people eager to meet you, Bella."

At the sound of those key words, Bella recited, "I am Bella. Nice to meet you."

"Pavlovian conditioning," Edward sighed. Esme gave him a reproving look and led Bella away to a small group of women standing over by a fountain. He hoped Bella wouldn't decide to jump in and splash around. Rose followed them, a silent shadow, mostly ignored by the party-goers as socially insignificant and therefore not worth their time.

Edward seated himself on a wrought iron bench in a far corner of the garden, half-hidden behind a shrub and a marble statue of Eros and Psyche.

"You want a beer?" Jacob asked.

Edward shook his head.

"I'll be right back. Hungry?"

"No, thank you."

"I am," Emmett said. "You all right here for a minute, Edward?"

"Sure."

Emmett and Jacob headed inside to the bar and buffet.

Near the doorway to the restaurant, Edward saw Paul, handsome and clean-cut in another beautifully tailored suit. He was talking quietly with one of the staff. It was Angela, one of their housekeepers. Though she cleaned his home, Edward rarely saw her; Esme had trained the staff and part of their job was to remain as invisible and unobtrusive as possible. Angela would have done that anyway. She was almost as shy and awkward as Edward, and Edward had always felt a kinship with her for that reason.

She blushed at something Paul said, but smiled as she ducked her head. Paul noticed Edward was looking in their direction and lifted his drink in salute. Edward gave him a nod and a smile.

Bella laughed and his eyes sought her. Her laugh was a sound that always lightened his heart and made him smile as well. She was in a small knot of fawning women, one of whom Edward vaguely recognized as a politician's wife. A senator or something. He was trying to place her when he heard his name whispered behind him.

He turned on the bench and saw Tanya shrug out of one of the white jackets worn by the servers. Beneath it, she wore a micro-mini dress in a brilliant red that clashed with her complexion and made it look even more orange than usual. "Hellooo," she whispered through lips caked with shiny red gloss.

How had he ever found her alluring? Now the sight of her only repulsed him. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a present for you," she said and stuck her closed fist out toward him.

"No, thank you. I don't think I should accept gifts from you, Tanya. It isn't appropriate."

A flash of irritation crossed her face. "Just take it, Edward."

He sighed and extended his own hand. She dropped something into his palm. It was a silver cross on a chain. "Did you get religion, or something?"

To his surprise, she knelt between his legs and reached for his zipper. "That's only part of your present," she cooed, looking up at him from beneath her lashes.

He knocked her hand away and scrambled off the bench. "What do you think are you doing, Tanya? I'm married to Bella."

She seemed surprised at his refusal. He dropped the cross on the grass in front of her and turned away. She caught him by the arm to keep him from walking away. "Please, Edward! Just put on the cross."

"No." He saw Emmett emerge from the restaurant and gestured to him. Emmett's eyes widened and he dropped his heaped plate. It shattered on the stone pavers with a sound like a gunshot. Before it even hit the ground, he was running toward Edward. Every pair of eyes in the garden followed him. Edward closed his own eyes and fought the urge to hide.

"Step away from Mr. Cullen," Emmett commanded Tanya. "Leave now, before I call the police."

"Edward, please, just put the cross on!" She tried to press it into his hand but Edward jerked away from her and it fell between the paving stones to disappear down the crack. Tanya let out a little sound of dismay.

It dawned on him why she'd wanted Edward to put on the cross and he laughed. _Of course. _She'd thought as soon as he touched the cross - or, better yet, put it on - Bella's hold over him would be broken and she could easily seduce her way back into his life.

"Tanya," he said quietly. He stepped closer as not to be overheard. "I love her. Do you understand? I love my wife, not because of _what_ she is, but because of _who_ she is."

"That's not true," Tanya hissed back. "Edward, she's got you under a spell." It was much easier for her to believe that he was bewitched rather than the simple (and painful) truth that he preferred another woman.

Esme had reached their side. Her eyes flashed with anger. "You were not invited," she said, and her voice held an arctic chill. "You will leave. Immediately."

Bella, beside Esme, watched this tiny drama with interest. Tanya reached into her purse and whipped out a glass vial that looked like one from the university science lab. She pulled off the stopper with one swift motion and threw the contents in Bella's face.

Gasps from the guests. Emmett darted forward and grabbed Tanya's arms at the same time that Esme jumped in front of Bella and frantically used her sleeve to wipe off the fluid. Rose wrested the vial from her hands and sniffed it.

"It's just water," Esme said hurriedly as people rushed over with dampened handkerchiefs and hand towels. "Just water, thank God."

"Holy water," Tanya announced with a triumphant smirk, which slowly faded, as the only reaction Bella had was confusion.

"What. The. _Fuck_." Jacob had just returned from the bar and now stood at the edge of the dance floor, gaping at the spectacle, a glass of beer forgotten in his hand.

"Call the police," Esme ordered. "This woman has assaulted my daughter-in-law and I want her arrested."

"Wait! Don't! Please, I'll go!" Tanya cried. Bella hadn't melted or whatever she had expected, and she apparently hadn't considered that she might be arrested.

"Trespassing and assault," Emmett intoned as he dialed on his cell phone.

"Come on, it was just … a prank!" she turned to Edward, panic twisting her features. "Edward, please, don't let them do this!"

Edward took the phone from Emmett's hand just as the police dispatcher answered. He looked straight into Tanya's eyes as he said, "I'd like to report an assault by a trespasser."

She tried to run, but Emmett grabbed her by the arm and held her in place. She wept and begged and blubbered while she yanked futilely against Emmett's hold. The guests stared at her and whispered behind their hands.

The police arrived within minutes. They took statements from both Esme and Edward, and accepted that Bella spoke little English. Edward told her in _Quechua_ what the police wanted from her and Bella pointed at Tanya. "Her do! Bella wet!"

The officer, smothering a smile, said that was sufficient for now.

Tanya was cuffed and they escorted her through the restaurant to the cruisers parked out front. They could see the camera flashes from here and the faint sounds of shouted questions.

"Please, everyone, enjoy yourselves," Esme said and gestured to the musicians to begin playing again. "It would be a shame to let this silliness spoil our evening."

"Mother, I'm taking Bella home," Edward said quietly.

Esme was disappointed but understanding. "Alright, darling. Thank you for bringing her tonight Even if it was only for a few moments, it accomplished my main objective."

Edward narrowed his eyes a bit. "Mother, I noticed you weren't terribly surprised to see her."

Esme arched a brow. "Perhaps I simply expected she would make an ass of herself in public, which would prevent any of her statements to the press from being taken seriously."

"Tankoo for fun," Bella said and Esme smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Emmett, Rose? A word please?"

In the car, Jacob asked a subdued Rose and Emmett what Esme had wanted.

It was Emmett who answered. "She chewed us out for leaving you alone. Honestly, Edward, I thought it was safe. I mean, I saw security at all of the doors. I never imagined Tanya would crash the party. But I guess that's the kind of stuff I'm supposed to expect and protect you from. Your mom seemed like she sort of expected it. I'm sorry, Edward"

"Holy water," Rose muttered and shook her head. "Jesus. I'm sorry. I honestly didn't think I needed to stand between them so that Tanya couldn't throw something at Bella. I'm not cut out for this bodyguard business."

* * *

><p>It was half past three when Edward went out to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. He stopped when he saw that the blinds that covered the floor-to-ceiling windows were open; they kept them closed out of fear that Bella could be burned if she left the bedroom before the sun was down.<p>

Jacob was seated in one of the armchairs, looking out over the city. He had a bottle of whiskey on the table beside him and Edward closed his eyes for a moment. As much as Jacob loved beer, he rarely consumed enough of it to get drunk and Edward could count on one hand the number of times he'd known Jacob to drink hard liquor. He'd once confessed to Edward that he worried his father's alcoholism might be hereditary and so he was very, very careful. Something must be troubling him deeply.

Edward walked over and sat down in the other chair. He poured himself a splash of the whiskey and savored the bouquet before he took a sip.

"Hey," Jacob said. "What are you doing up?"

"Thirsty."

Jacob gave him a slight smile and nodded toward Edward's glass. "That won't help."

"You seem rather 'thirsty' yourself."

"Yeah." Jacob set down his empty glass with a thump. "It's not helping with my problem, either."

Edward took another sip and waited.

"Hearing's tomorrow," Jacob said.

Edward had forgotten.

Jacob rubbed a hand over his face. "Not that it really matters one way or the other. My career is fucked."

"They don't have enough evidence to justify firing you."

"That's not what I meant. I meant I'll never be able to dig again. Even if I am reinstated, it's not like an exoneration will make front page headlines the way the 'Tomb Raider" story did. My reputation is shot to shit. No one will issue permits to me. They'll think I just got away with it for lack of evidence, not because I was innocent. And the hell of it is that I'm not. I actually _do_ deserve to get fired."

Edward didn't know what to say. He'd never been one for issuing soothing, false platitudes.

"Bella was worth it, though," Jacob said softly. "Seeing you happy like this ... I'd have given up far more. " He poured another drink, but Edward scooted his glass away.

"I think you've had enough, Jake."

"You're probably right."

"Come on. Let's get you to bed. You need to get at least a bit of sleep before the hearing."

Jacob stood and wobbled as though his knees wouldn't support him. Edward gripped his arm to steady him. "Whoa. Had more than I thought."

Edward kept his grip on Jacob's arm as they walked slowly down the hallway. Jacob used the wall for support on his other side. "I'm sorry about this."

Edward shrugged. He opened Jacob's door and led him over to the bed, where Jacob flopped down diagonally, missing the pillows entirely.

He pulled off Jacob's shoes. "Want a pillow?" he asked.

But Jacob didn't respond. He let out a small snore. Edward went around to the other side of the bed and lifted Jacob's head to tuck a pillow beneath it. He yanked up the end of the comforter to cover him. He turned on one of the lamps in the living room area so Jacob wouldn't trip if he needed to dash to the bathroom. Which was likely because every time he'd ever gotten drunk, Jacob spent half the night paying for it. Hopefully, it would be out of his system before the hearing tomorrow morning.

At seven a.m., Felix brought Jacob a strong cup of coffee and two aspirins even before he was asked. Edward surmised he must have seen the bottle and glasses lying out. A very hung-over Jacob departed for the hearing with Emmett as his driver and Edward went back to his room and laid down beside Bella to study his _Quechua_ textbook.

There was a tap at the door and Edward laid the book aside to go answer it. Felix stood there, with a silver domed tray clasped between his gloved hands. "I thought you might be hungry, sir," he said.

Edward shook his head in wonderment. "I was just thinking about getting something to eat. How do you _do_ that?"

Felix's lips twitched. "Just a hunch, sir." He carried the tray into the suite's living room, smiling slightly at the sight of Bella curled up in the center of the bed. Edward followed and closed the door so as not to disturb her.

"You know what she is, don't you?" Edward asked.

Felix nodded. He used the snowy white napkin over his arm to remove the lid of the tray. A plate of roast beef with mashed potatoes and green beans lay beneath it, each portion with a careful inch of space around it.

"How?"

"My family are daymen."

"But you're not?"

Felix shook his head. He looked embarrassed by that admission. "My brother and sister are, and my parents were, as were their parents before them. They say no one can predict this kind of thing, when the gene will skip."

"But you _know_ things," Edward said.

Felix waved a hand. "Small things: when I'll be needed, when the people in the household will be hungry, when visitors are on their way. But for big things, major life-changing things, I'll never see them coming. It's not a terribly useful talent."

Edward wondered what Felix hadn't seen that filled his eyes with pain.

* * *

><p>As Edward predicted, Jacob had been reinstated. He didn't even have to speak at the hearing. Lauren was not present, which spoke volumes to the lack of credibility her story had with the disciplinary board. It was a mere formality. They voted as soon as one of them read the accusations and that was that. They moved on to the next item on their agenda. Jacob quietly slipped from the room. He noted that there was only one reporter present and compared it (with a hefty dose of cynicism) to the hordes that had descended on the dig site and she didn't even bother to try to talk to him.<p>

Edward was waiting up to hear the news. He clapped Jacob on the back and congratulated him. Jacob thanked him and told Edward he ought to go to bed. His eyes were bleary with exhaustion. Edward didn't argue. Jacob knew he'd never be able to sleep, so he settled down in the living room to study word lists. Those personal suffixes were kicking his ass because they changed based on the number people they referred to, case and person.

Jacob didn't answer the door at the first knock. When he heard it a second time, he looked up from the word lists. "Felix?" Where the hell was he? He must have answered a call from downstairs that someone was coming up, so why hadn't he stuck around to answer the door? It made no sense.

He rose from his seat and went over to open the door. A woman stood on the other side. Auburn curls peeked from beneath the hat she wore and her brown eyes were soft and warm. "Hi, you must be Jacob," she said.

"Uh, yeah … hi." Jacob stuck out his hand and she took it in her own, holding it instead of shaking it. "I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are."

Her smile was sweet and sunny. "I'm Nessa. I'm Bella's temporary dayman."

* * *

><p>Alice ran into Tuneville's bathroom, sobbing. She was still wearing her stage clothes, a black corset over a pink tulle skirt. Her black and white striped leggings were torn at the knees and her shredded palms had smeared alarmingly bright streaks of blood on her skirt. Blinded by her tears, she collided with another woman as she rounded the corner.<p>

"Sorry!" she blurted.

"It's okay," the woman said softly. "Goodness, are you okay?"

"No," Alice confessed. "I'm really not." She put her hands over her face and wept so hard that her whole body shook with the force of her sobs. "I f- fell in the p- _parking lot_!"

"Shh," the woman said. She pulled a packet of tissues from her purse and led Alice over to the sofa in the small vestibule by the door. It was shaped like a pair of red lips and had large, googly eyes at the top. Alice sat down and blew her nose while the woman soaked some paper towels in the sink. She handed one to Alice for her hands and knelt to dab at Alice's skinned knees.

"I have some bandages in my purse, but you'd probably better put some disinfectant on them when you get home," the woman cautioned.

"Thank you," Alice said dully.

"What happened, honey?"

"I tripped. I wasn't watching where I was going because my brother just told me that my boyfriend got another girl pregnant."

"He cheated on you?" the woman looked horrified.

Alice shook her head. "Not really. We were broken up at the time, but he didn't _tell _me. I had to find out from my brother, of all people. Everybody knew except for me, it seems." Alice needed another tissue. The woman handed it to her and asked her what Jasper had said when Alice confronted him.

Two hours later, Alice and the woman parted at the door with a hug.

"Thank you," Alice said. "Thank you so much. I'm so glad I met you, but I don't even know your name!"

The woman smiled. "I'm Jessica."


	17. Chapter 17

.

~.~

Chapter Seventeen

~.~

"Bullshit," Rose said. "I've never heard of a _'temporary dayman_'."

Jacob had gone to get Rose the moment Felix had appeared to lead Nessa down the hall and show her to a bedroom and get her "settled in", as he put it. He seemed to take for granted that Nessa would be welcome to stay. He'd plucked her suitcase from the floor and said, "This way, miss," as though he had been expecting her.

"She said she was sent by the Queen." Jacob took a swig of his beer. "She had a letter of introduction."

Rose stuck out her hand. "Let me see." Jacob handed it to her, and Rose scanned it swiftly.

.

_Greetings to you, Dark Goddess, from Victoria, Queen of the Vampires,_

_I wish to welcome your return to our world and to assist you in any way that I can. Toward this end, I have sent to you Nessa, a dayman and a personal friend, who will help you acclimate yourself to our culture and our laws. I've heard much from mutual friends about your power and abilities, and I know you'll make a great asset to our world. I look forward to meeting you one day. _

_Victoria Regina_

_.  
><em>

"Fucking Jenks," Rose growled. "I _knew_ it."

"Who's Regina?" Emmett asked into the silence that fell after Rose's words.

"It's Latin. It means _Victoria the Queen_."

"It's not just a '_Hi, how are you?_' It's a warning." Jacob's voice was grim. "_Our laws ... our world."_

_"_She's a spy," Emmett declared.

"No shit, Sherlock," Rose snarled. She stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Emmett. I shouldn't snap at you like that."

Emmett merely kissed her cheek and tightened his arms around her waist.

Jacob raked a hand through his hair, Edward's gesture when he was frustrated. "So, what are we going to do? If we send her packing, Victoria is going to see it as Bella rejecting her authority."

"Where are they, anyway?"

"In their room." Jacob set his beer on the end table and went the short distance down the hall to Edward's room. He lifted a fist to knock but froze with his knuckles hovering over the wood when he heard a soft sound from within. "They're ... um ... _busy_ at the moment."

* * *

><p>He kissed that sweet, sensitive place where her shoulder joined with her neck and she let out a small sighing moan. His hands were warm as they slid over her skin, leaving small buzzing tingles in their wake.<p>

She could never get enough of him. She had loved in the past, but never with this all-consuming intensity. It frightened her, made her vulnerable for she knew the fragility of humans, the brevity of their lives and she knew that if he was taken from her, she would never recover from his loss. Until recently, she had lacked the words to be able to tell him how she felt. She could only say it with her body, the adoration in every touch, every kiss, and though they now shared a language, she still showed him with every inch of her being.

He kissed his way up the column of her throat and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. Such a small, simple action, but it sent a bolt of fire through her. He lifted her arms, sliding his hands down their length, and placed her hands on the top rail of the bed. He gave them both a light squeeze to tell her to leave them there and she obeyed. Her sweet, sensitive Edwurr, so shy and awkward outside of the bedchamber, but in here, where it was safe - just the two of them - he was gaining confidence and allowing himself to reveal his secret desires. Sometimes a sweet, gentle lover, and other times dominating with a rough edge that set her senses afire, and this, a combination of the two which made her wild with need.

She felt the light nip of his teeth on her naked shoulder and she cried out. Her hands tightened on the rail and she felt it give under the pressure of her fingers, bent out of shape. His hands on her hips, gripping, his fingers digging into her flesh. If she were human, she might have had bruises from the pressure. As it was, the tiny bit of pain sweetened the pleasure. He entered her and she groaned but it wasn't the hard, forceful thrusts she had been expecting and craving. He slid into her slowly, oh so achingly slow, until she was ready to flip him over and take what she wanted. She pushed back, but he held her still.

"Patience," he whispered in _runasimi_. He lowered his head and his hot breath caressed her ear as he said something else that she couldn't translate.

"What?" She turned her head and saw him flush, but she forgot all about her curiosity when he gave her what she wanted.

Afterward, he collapsed beside her and pulled her against his sweat-dewed chest, her sweet and gentle Edwurr again. She kissed his chest over his still-racing heart, his salt on her lips.

"I love you," he whispered and then kissed her, soft and deep.

There was a tap at the door. Edward huffed in irritation but pulled on his jeans and went to answer it. She heard Jacob's voice, tense and low and she sat up in the bed, a worried crease on her forehead. After a moment, Edward shut the door and turned to her with an equally concerned expression.

"Bella, we have a visitor," he said simply.

* * *

><p>Edward held Bella's hand when they left the bedroom, but he wasn't sure if the gesture was simply from affection or because he was afraid she would bolt. Bella was about to be confronted with the truth again, and he wasn't sure she'd take it any better this time than the last.<p>

Bella saw the woman and froze in her tracks. He saw how her nostrils flared when she caught the scent and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Nessa was seated on the sofa, alone. Jacob was in one of the arm chairs and Emmett occupied the other. Rose perched on his lap, as tense as a short nun at a penguin shoot. The air fairly crackled with tension, but Nessa seemed oblivious to it. She gave Bella a sweet, warm smile.

"Hello, Bella."

Bella didn't respond. She looked over at Rose and then back to the woman, obviously comparing their scents.

"This is Nessa," Jacob said. "She's your ... uh ... She's here ... um ... to help you."

"Pleased to meet you, Bella." Nessa rose to her feet and extended her hand.

Bella backed away from it and cast a confused look at Edward.

"What is this, Edward?" she asked in Quechua. "Who is she?"

"She is a dayman, like Rose," Edward explained. "They are a special kind of human that serves and protects vampires. She says she has been sent here by the vampire Queen to serve you."

Bella's face became cool and impassive. She turned to Nessa and pointed at the door.

"Don't want. Go home."

Jacob met Edward's eyes. Edward inwardly sighed. It was time to have the conversation he had been avoiding. "Bella..."

"No," she said, and spun on her heel to march back to their room.

Edward followed her and closed their bedroom door behind them. Bella sat down on the edge of the bed, still wearing that carefully blank expression, and Edward took a seat beside her.

"Bella," he picked up one of her cool-skinned hands and held it in his own. "I know this is hard for you. Do you remember what Leah told you?"

She was silent. Edward saw her jaw clench.

"She was trying to tell you the truth about what you are."

Bella pulled her hand from his and stood. "She was deceptive, a sower of doubt."

"No, Bella."

She blinked hard and he could tell she was fighting back tears. "Why are you doing this?"

He rose to his feet and cupped her shoulders with his hands. "I know this is difficult, Bella, but you have to accept it. You are a vampire."

"I am a goddess!" she hissed, but tears spilled from her eyes.

"You're both," he said. He brushed the hair back from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. She was shaking and he saw her hands clench and unclench at her sides. "You're my goddess."

Abruptly, she dropped her face into her hands and let out a shuddering sob. He put his arms around her and she sank into them sweetly, trustingly, accepting what comfort he could give.

Edward waited until she had regained her composure. She dashed away her tears and said in a voice far calmer than she actually was: "Why is she here? I have Rose. I do not need another ... dayman."

"She was sent by the vampire Queen. We're not sure why, but we think it's because the Queen wanted to know more about you." That was probably the most diplomatic way that he could put it.

"Why would she care?"

Edward took a deep breath. "She wants you to become part of the vampire realm."

"What do you mean?" Perhaps it was his tension she was picking up on, or she had grasped the implications, because her eyes became wary.

He knew this part would be just as difficult as getting Bella to accept what she was. Maybe more difficult. "She wants you to register as a citizen and swear loyalty to her and obedience to their laws."

As he had expected, Bella's eyes flashed. "A goddess bows to no one."

"Bella - "

"Send her away, Edward. And give her a message to take back to her so-called Queen. I am the Dark Goddess, Mistress of Night and Lady of Rain. Kings and queens bow to _me_, and I will not be ruled." And with that, Bella marched into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. He tried to follow, but the door was locked. In a moment, he heard the sound of the shower start. He laid his head against the door for a moment, and then went back out into the living room, catching the conversation in progress.

"Is it short for 'Vanessa'?" Jacob asked.

Nessa rolled her eyes. "Don't I wish. It's a rather terrible combination of my grandmothers' names."

"Edward, how is Bella?" Rose asked.

"Not well," Edward said flatly.

Nessa looked down and rubbed her palms over the knees of her jeans. "I'm sorry. I really didn't want to upset her."

Felix entered the room, carrying a tray of drinks. He gave Nessa hers first and she smiled brightly at him.

"Sir," Felix murmured as he handed Edward a cup of tea resting on a saucer. Edward thanked him and took a sip. Perfect as always and it was a little soothing to his frazzled nerves. He took another sip and nearly spit it out when Nessa said, "So, Edward, how did you and Bella meet?"

Eyes on him. He fought furiously against the rising flush on his face, but it was a battle he had never been able to win. His cup rattled on its saucer.

"Blind date," Jacob answered. "Listen, Nessa, I'm sure you're an awesome dayman and all - "

Nessa went on as though Jacob hadn't spoken. "How long have you known her? Jinx gave the impression that she had only recently come out of hibernation."

Edward stared into his cup.

Jacob's voice was short and terse. '"Leave him alone."

"I'm sorry." Nessa was abashed, but obviously didn't know why she was in the wrong. "I was just - "

"I know what you were doing," Jacob retorted. "He doesn't want to talk to you. When he does, you'll be the first to know. You know how? Because he'll be_ talking to you_."

"Jake -" Rose said softly, a hint of warning coloring her tone.

"No, fuck this tiptoeing-around shit." Jacob took another gulp of his beer and banged the bottle down on the end table so loudly that they all jumped. "You barge in here, expecting us to embrace you like a long-lost friend? You're not needed, and you're sure as hell not wanted."

Nessa looked like she'd been slapped. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You should be. Look, we all know we have to tolerate you because throwing you out on your ass would be pretty much a declaration of war, but don't expect any of us to like it or play friends. You leave Edward alone. You leave Bella alone. Do your spy shit and when you're done, get the fuck out."

Tears pooled in Nessa's eyes, but she nodded. She jumped to her feet and bolted down the hall to her room. Jacob stared after her, a small frown on his face. "Aw, shit, maybe I shouldn't have ... She seems like a nice girl."

"Don't fall for it, Jake," Rose warned.

His face hardened. "You're right. The one we should be worried about is Bella."

"She refuses to believe it." Edward drained his teacup and replaced it on Felix's tray..

"That's understandable," Rose replied. "She's been told she is divine since she was an infant. Now, you're trying to tell her she's an ordinary vampire, and what's more, she has to submit to the Queen?"

"Christ, what a mess," Jacob groaned.

"What I don't get is why Victoria is so worried," Emmett said. "Does she really run around after every new vampire like this?"

"No," Rose replied, her voice pitched so low as to be scarcely audible. "Jenks didn't just tell her Bella existed. He also told her that Bella is more powerful than she is. Victoria doesn't have any special talents and she's only been a vampire for a few decades. She's just defeated one rebellion - barely. If Bella chooses to lead another ..." she trailed off and looked around the room at the grim faces and knew she didn't need to say it.

* * *

><p>"Any luck?" Jacob asked Emmett as he hung up the phone.<p>

Emmett shook his head. "Voice mail again. She isn't returning my calls."

Jacob sighed and rubbed his forehead. Neither of them had seen or spoken to Alice in a week. Jacob had even tried going to Tuneville to see if he could catch her show, but another band was headlining and Harry didn't know the reason for the abrupt change. No one answered when Emmett knocked on Alice's apartment door. The kids were still attending school; Emmett had driven by the school at noon and saw them running around on the playground. But everyone claimed not to have seen Alice. Both Emmett and Jacob were worried about her. She'd been angry at them beofre, but she'd never cut them completely out of her life before.

Emmett blamed himself. He'd told Alice about Tanya's pregnancy becuase Jasper had not. "She was bound to find out, especially since he paid Tanya's bail. She didn't take it well, but I didn't expect _this._"

"Tanya's out?" Jacob despaired.

"They're not going to keep her in jail over a simple assault charge," Emmett explained, and Jacob supposed he had the experience with the legal system to know. "They've probably put her under a restraining order, though, and if she violates it, she'll have to go back."

"Since Edward is barely letting Bella leave the apartment, I don't think we have to worry about it," Jacob said. He glanced over at the woman in the living room as he said it. Nessa sat alone on the sofa, typing on her laptop. She rarely left either, and her presence was the reason why Bella stayed mostly in her room. She disliked Nessa and it had taken Edward a lot of effort to keep Bella from following through on the threat she had made when she saw Nessa still in the apartment the second evening: "You out or I _throw _you out," and the pointed way she had looked at the window made it clear she wasn't thinking about tossing the girl into the hallway.

"I'm going over to Alice's place again," Emmett declared. "If I find out anything, I'll call you." He kissed Rose on his way out the door and she came into the kitchen to open the fridge.

"Hey," she said in greeting to Jacob. "Hungry?"

"I could eat," Jacob said.

"Omelet okay?"

"Sounds great." He watched as Rose withdrew the ingredients. "Need help?"

"From the guy who can't cook spahgetti? No, I think I've got it."

"Man, you burn a pot of spaghetti noodles one time, and they never let you forget it," Jacob retorted, but he was amused. He'd put the pot on the stove to cook and promptly forgotten about it until the smoke alarms began to wail.

"Think we should offer?" Rose asked, and nodded in Nessa's direction.

Jacob inwardly sighed but he nodded. He slid off the stool at the counter and walked into the living room. He approached the sofa, but Nessa didn't look up.

"Nessa?"

She looked at him. Blinked her soft brown eyes in surprise that he was speaking to her.

"Would you like am omelet?"

Nessa gave him a small, tentative smile. "No, but thank you for thinking of me."

"Thank Rose. She was the considerate one."

"I think you're nicer than you pretend to be."

Now it was his turn to blink in surprise. Disconcerted, he headed back to the kitchen and merely shook his head at Rose's questioning glance.

He watched her cook in silence for a few moments and then said, "So, you and Emmett are getting pretty serious, huh?"

She dropped the spatula.

"Oh, wait, I'm not criticizing," Jacob said hurriedly. "It's just ... I didn't think he'd be your ... uh ... type."

"Yeah, me either," she chuckled. "I can't explain it, Jake. It's really like we just ... fit. I never thought I'd feel this way. I mean, I wanted it, after seeing Edward and Bella together. I wanted it so badly that I -" She stopped for a moment and turned to face him. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I was envious. I want to be loved so badly that I - I tried to force it between us. I know now that what we had was a mutual attraction. We might have had some fun with it, but I wouldn't have been able to make it something more, no matter how hard I tried. I'm glad now that you turned me down, even though I was pissed at you for a while. You were right; it wouldn't have worked between us."

"Are you happy with Emmett?"

She smilled, and her face had a soft dreaminess that he never would have imagined he would see from her. "Yes, I am. I would never have believed it."

"I never would have believed what I'm seeing from him, either. At first, I thought it was the bodyguard thing that was straightening him up but now I know it was for a different reason. He's changing for you."

Why did Rose's smile at that make his heart ache so?

* * *

><p>Edward heard a clatter and his eyes flew open. Bella was snuggled against his chest, already deep into her day sleep, so it had to be close to dawn. He extricated himself and slipped from the bed, smiling at the way he automatically tucked the blankets around her. Another clatter from the living room made the smile die off of his face. He had a pretty good idea of what he was going to find and so he wasn't surprised to see Jacob in the armchair in front of the window, fumbling with the glass stopper of the whiskey decanter on the table beside him. He'd forgotten to take the top off the bottle before he started to pour.<p>

"Oh, hey, Edward!" he said with false cheer. He sloshed some liquor into his glass and lifted it. "_Salud_!"

Edward's heart thudded in alarm. "Jake, this isn't like you."_ Third time this week_.

"Sorry I woke you."

"That's not what's troubling me. I don't like seeing you like this."

"Yeah, then don't watch." Jake tossed the drink back and fumbled for the bottle again. He gave up on the complicated mechanics of pouring the liquor in the glass and chugged straight from the decanter.

Edward was quiet for a moment. "All right." He turned to go.

He heard Jacob sigh. "No, Edward, wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"You've never been a mean drunk."

"I'm not mean. I'm sad."

"Yes, there's nothing like a depressant to cheer you up when you're feeling low," Edward said pointedly.

Jacob chuckled. "I don't know why I'm doing it, actually. I came out here and said, '_Just one. Just one to help me sleep'."_

"Jake, I know you don't want this. You've always worried about what sort of weaknesses you may have inherited from your father."

Jacob closed his eyes.

"I'm just worried about you. And I wish you'd tell me what's troubling you."

"I can't."

Edward nodded. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me." He turned again to leave when Jacob said something so low that Edward didn't catch it.

"What?"

"I said, I'm jealous."

"Of what?"

"You. You and Bella."

Edward's eyebrows crunched together. "Of Bella? Jake, I didn't think you -"

Jacob waved a hand. "No, not that. I'm jealous of what you _have_ together. Of what Emmett and Rose have. I want that. I never thought I did. In fact, I intentionally set up my life to avoid it, to keep anyone from getting close."

"You can change that at any time," Edward said.

Jacob gently replaced the decanter on the table. "I'm not so sure. Walls get to be a habit, you know? First you build them to distance yourself, and then you find yourself hiding behind them. And if you stay behind them long enough, you forget what life was like without them."

They heard a soft sound and both of them turned their heads to see Nessa standing at the end of the hall. She wore a pink long t-shirt nightie with a image of a kitten on the front and a pair of pink ballet-style slippers. She looked frightened. "I'm sorry," she said hurriedly. "I wanted a glass of milk. I didn't know anyone else was up. I'll just - "

"Go get your milk," Jacob said. "Don't mind us."

She hesitated for a moment and then bolted for the kitchen. There was a loud cracking sound as her foot discovered the leg of the sofa in the dark and she fell with a soft cry. Jacob lurched out of his chair faster than any drunken man should be able to and was at her side in an instant. Nessa had her foot in her hands and she was rocking, her face grayed with pain, her teeth embedded in her lower lip as she fought not to cry.

"Let me see," Jacob ordered.

"No, I'm - "

"Let me see!" Jacob pried her hands away and pulled off her slipper.

"Is she all right?" Edward asked. He couldn't see what Jacob was doing from this angle, but Nessa gave a soft groan.

"I think her toe is broken," Jacob said. He stood and scooped Nessa into his arms. "Get the door, Edward."

"Jacob, you can't drive," Edward reminded him.

"No, but there's no law against taking a girl to the hospital in a cab while intoxicated," Jacob said. He marched out and bumped the elevator call button with his elbow. "Call down to the desk, will you, and see if they'll get the doorman to flag down a cab for me."

"Let me get Bella's robe," Edward offered.

"Are you kidding? She'll burn it if she smells Nessa's scent on it." He glanced at the girl in his arms. "Uhh, no offense, Nessa. I think you smell pretty good, actually."

Nessa smiled through the tears of pain that stood in her eyes. "Thanks. And under the liquor fumes, you smell pretty good, too."

Jacob laughed as he stepped into the elevator. Edward shook his head and went back inside to call down to the desk.

..

* * *

><p>AN: "Runasimi" is what the Incans called their language. "Quechua" is the name that the Spanish gave it. Some modern-day speakers of it still call it _runasimi_.

Please pardon any mistakes (more than usual, that is!) I'm writing this from my iPad while on vacation and it doesn't have the spellcheck feature that my computer does.


	18. Chapter 18

.

~.~

Chapter Eighteen

~.~

Jacob passed the time in the emergency room playing Angry Birds on his phone. The ER was busy and Nessa's broken toe wasn't high on the priority list, and so it appeared they were in for a long wait. Nessa paged listlessly through the health magazines on the table beside them. Jacob tried to ignore her, but he was hyper-aware of her every movement. She sighed and tossed the magazine aside.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Jake had the snide urge to correct her grammar, but suppressed it. "What?"

"I'm not a spy."

Jacob snorted.

"I'm not. Really."

"Whatever." He picked up his phone again.

Nessa laid her hand over his, blocking the screen. "I've been open about why I'm here and so has the Queen. Both of us want to help Bella get acclimated to the twenty-first century and to vampire culture."

"We were doing a pretty good job of it on our own."

"You haven't managed to get her to accept what she is, Jacob."

"We're working on it." Jacob's voice was sullen.

"You've been with her for almost two months," Nessa said. "She should have gotten used to the idea by now. You're holding back out of fear of upsetting her."

Jacob shoved his phone in his pocket."I wasn't aware there was a time limit."

"The Queen is willing to be patient, but -"

"The Queen," said Jacob, "can go fuck herself, as far as I'm concerned."

Nessa was shocked. Her wide eyes blinked rapidly.

"Bella's not hurting anyone. She's not trying to lead a rebellion or whatever Victoria is afraid she's doing. She's minding her own business and it would sure be nice if your Queen would do the same."

"Jacob, you don't understand," Nessa protested. "News about Bella is spreading. Rumors of how powerful she is, and what the fae-folk are saying. Victoria can't ignore this."

"The fae-folk? You mean Jinx?"

"He's not the only one," Nessa said grimly. "They're saying she was the one foretold to rule over both vampires and mankind alike."

"Do _you_ believe it?"

Nessa bit her lip. "Jacob, do you know how Victoria became Queen?"

"Can't say that I do."

"She was just an ordinary young woman, back in the 1970s. She'd married her high school sweetheart and they'd just had a baby. She went out one night to pick up some ice cream because her parents were coming over for dinner. It was their first wedding anniversary."

Jacob settled back and folded his hands over his stomach. "Go on."

"Asking her to stop to pick up ice cream was just an excuse to keep her out of the house. Her husband planned a surprise party for her. But when she got home, everyone in the apartment was dead."

Jacob winced. "Vampires?"

Nessa nodded. "Particularly sick and sadistic ones. It was a slaughterhouse. Blood everywhere, red streaks on the balloons and smeared on the _Happy Anniversary_ banner her dad had strung up ... She was standing in the doorway, frozen in horror, when a man came up to her. He was smiling and she could see his fangs, smeared with bright red blood, the blood of her friends and family, of her baby ... There was a small group of them and they all laughed at her, mocking the horrified expression on her face. They were sated, or they might have killed her, too. Or perhaps they just thought it was amusing to leave one person alive to mourn the rest. The leader said something to her, something cruel. I don't know what it was; Victoria never told me. And then they left, leaving her in an apartment full of bodies."

Jacob didn't want to feel sorry for Victoria, but he pictured it so clearly in his mind, a young wife and mother, suddenly widowed, suddenly orphaned, her child murdered ... stunned, unable to process what she'd just witnessed.

"The police didn't believe her, of course. They decided it had been a cult of some kind and more-or-less shrugged off the investigation, as hard as that is to believe. It may have been a vampire that controlled their minds and may have ordered them to leave it alone. Who knows, after all this time? Victoria started investigating it on her own, and in the course of her research, she found more victims, just like herself, who had lost loved ones to vampires. Some didn't want to talk about it. Some wanted justice. She formed a small group that was determined to find these vampires and destroy them, but first, they needed to know which of the legends were true, and how to kill a vampire. So, they laid a trap and managed to capture one of them. James."

"Wasn't he - ?" Jacob was sure he'd heard the name before.

"Her husband. Her mate." Nessa traced the pattern on the chair cushion with her finger. "It was a while before he could get Victoria to accept that all vampires weren't evil; some of the team never _did_ accept it. He helped them, once they released him, and they hunted down the vampires who had killed Victoria's family one by one. And during one of the missions, she was fatally injured and James changed her to save her." She raised her eyes to Jacob's. "Here's the thing: the vampires have always had a Council of Ancients - vampires over a thousand years old - who ruled over them. They were the keepers of the law, what little of it there was at the time. And the one law they were strict on was that vampires couldn't kill their own kind, and now that Victoria was a vampire, she was subject to that law. They sent hunters after James and Victoria and brought them before the Council to be tried. They found both of them guilty, of course, and sentenced them to death. When they moved Victoria's hair to the side to bare her neck for the blade, they saw her birthmark. The Council had their own prophecies, and it was foretold that the one who bore this mark would be their ruler. Some of the council accepted it immediately. Others refused top believe it. It was an uphill battle for her, establishing her authority. And a couple of years ago, there was a major rebellion. She survived it, but just barely, and she lost James during one of the major battles."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"So that you'll understand why she'd be concerned about another potential claimant for the throne."

"Bella doesn't want the throne."

"But others may want to put her there."

"That's not Bella's fault."

"No, but she could end it by swearing loyalty to the Queen."

Jacob shook his head. "Goddesses don't submit to queens."

"She's not a goddess, Jacob. She's a vampire."

"Ren ... Rene ... Reneesseem?" A nurse read from a clipboard, obviously struggling with an unfamiliar name.

Nessa sighed and stood. "That's me."

"You weren't shitting about the name," Jacob said, impressed. "What is it?"

"Renesmee," Nessa mumbled.

Jacob winced and sucked in a breath through his teeth. "Ouch. You need help, by the way?"

"Oh, no, I'll be fine," Nessa said airily. "All I need is one leg." And she proceeded to hop after the nurse down the hall.

Jacob's phone rang and he cursed and scrambled for the door. He felt guilty for forgetting to turn it off. He ducked outside before he answered it.

"You are _not_ gonna fuckin' believe this," Emmett started.

"Believe what?"

"I waited outside of Alice's place in case she came home this morning and she did."

"She okay?"

"That is debatable. She's dating Jessica Stanley."

Jacob dropped his phone. He heard Emmett repeating his name as he fumbled for it. "I'm sorry, Emmett, I thought you said - "

"I _did_ say," Emmett replied. "I saw her pull up in a car I didn't recognize. She got out and went around to kiss the driver. I got closer and that's when I saw it was a girl."

"Jessica Stanley," Jacob repeated. "My TA?"

"I didn't know who she was until Alice told me. I mean, I've heard you mention a Jessica, but it's not like it's an uncommon name or anything."

"Ho-lee shit," Jacob said slowly. "Since when is Alice gay?"

"She says she's not. She says that Jessica is the only girl she's ever been attracted to. Jessica is the only one who understands her, the only one who knows the real Alice, whatever that means."

"I can't _believe_ this."

"It gets better," Emmett said grimly. "When I asked her about it, Alice got all pissy and defensive. Accused me of being discriminatory against gay people and all that. Which you know isn't true. I mean, hell, we _live_ with a gay guy, for Christ's sake."

"We do?" That was news to Jacob. "Who?"

"Felix, dumb ass. You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't." Not that he cared, but it made him feel oblivious not to have known. But then again, Felix never discussed his personal life. He didn't even seem to have one; he never seemed to leave the apartment.

"I don't care if Alice is a lesbian," Emmett said. "I'd be pretty happy about it, to tell you the truth. No more worries about her getting knocked up again."

_Sensitive as ever, Emmett. _"Speaking of kids, where were they while Alice was having sleep-overs at Jessica's place?"

"She said Riley had them."

Jacob rubbed his temples. Alice might as well have dropped them off on Main Street to play in the traffic.

"She said some pretty harsh shit. She thinks we're trying to sabotage any relationship she has."

"That's ridiculous," Jacob snapped.

Emmett's voice was low. "You remember what mom was like, Jacob."

Jacob closed his eyes. Their mother wouldn't let Alice go out with a boy unless she brought him home first. When Alice did, their mother would invariably make a painfully blatant and awkward attempt to seduce him. This would inevitably lead to a fight with their father and the neighbors would usually end up calling the cops. Many boys had never returned for a second date, but a couple of them had actually taken their mother up on the offer. Jacob was pretty sure Riley had.

"She ought to know that we're not like -" Jacob broke off and looked at his phone. "I'll call you back, Emmett. I'm getting another call."

An unknown number. He answered: "Hello?"

"Hello, Jacob," Esme said.

Jacob almost dropped the phone again. "Uh, Mrs. Cullen. I - uh ... Hello." Fear clenched in his gut. Something had to be terribly wrong for Esme to be calling him.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked.

"No, I'm at the hospital with a friend, actually."

"Nothing serious, I hope."

"Just a broken toe. Is ... is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine. I didn't mean to alarm you by calling out of the blue like this, but I need your help with something."

"Um, yeah. Sure. Whatever you need."

"Did you remember that tomorrow is Edward's birthday?"

"No, it's not," he blurted.

"Well, you're right. It's not his _actual_ birthday, but I'm going to Paris next month and I won't be back in time for his real birthday. So, I'm throwing a surprise party for him now. I need you to bring him to my home tomorrow evening at nine. I've already invited all of his friends."

_What friends_? Jacob suppressed a sigh because they were likely the people that Esme _wanted_ Edward to befriend. In some ways, Esme Cullen could be very blind when it came to her son. "Ma'am, I'm really not sure ..."

"I am," Esme said firmly. "Just have him here at nine."

"Yes, ma'am."

She thanked him sweetly and disconnected. Jacob dialed Edward's cell phone number. There was no way in hell he'd inflict something like that on Edward without warning.

* * *

><p>Edward looked as glum as a horse touring a glue factory when he came out of his bedroom the following evening. Jacob gave him a commiserating clap on the shoulder.<p>

Bella emerged after him, resplendent in an off-the shoulder, royal blue gown with a full, ankle-length skirt, selected and sent over by Esme this morning. For some reason, it was one of the few clothing choices of Esme's that Bella disliked and they all had to coax and cajole her into wearing it. Her hair was piled high on her head, tumbling down in curls and she wore a sapphire and diamond choker around her throat, with a matching bracelet around one wrist. From the way her lower lip protruded, something had thrown her into a full-fledged pout. She and Edward exchanged morose glances.

Rose followed Bella out into the living room, her makeup kit in one hand. "Keep an eye on her, Jake. Don't let her wander off while I finish getting ready or she may decide to decorate her cheeks with eye shadow again."

The memory made Jacob smile. "I thought she looked pretty. The purple frog on her chin was a particularly lovely touch."

"Ha ha," Rose said sourly. "Call for the car. I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Jacob obediently phoned down to the lobby desk and asked for Mrs. Cullen's car to be brought around. Over this last week, the car had been an issue of contention between Esme and her son. She had bought it for Bella, she said, and it didn't matter that Bella didn't know how to drive. She should have a car of her own. After all, Edward himself rarely drove himself, but he had a car of his own. Bella could either use his driver or Rose could take on the task. After Edward had complained that his wife certainly didn't need _a Bentley_, Esme had coldly informed him that his insistence on buying "middle class vehicles" was a form of pretension in of itself and Edward's face had flushed with anger. Jacob had intervened at that point, before harsh words could be exchanged that both Edward and Esme would regret later.

That evening, Esme had come over when the car was delivered and had presented it to Bella with the air of a parent giving a child their first Christmas present. Bella had looked at the car in confusion and said, "Edwurr has car. Don't want. Give Paa car?" Though that hadn't been her intent, Bella's suggestion had wounded Esme and so Edward had felt compelled to accept it at that point.

Nessa emerged from the hallway, clad in a light brown sundress, the only dress she'd brought with her. A blue cast covered her foot and calf with a sandal-like foam shoe around the bottom. She used crutches to get around. She hopped out unto the living room and paused as she surveyed them in their finery. She had her hair pulled up into a ponytail and her bottom lip was pink from the thorough chewing she was giving it.

No one wanted to invite her, but the idea of leaving her behind in the apartment was intolerable to Edward, who jealously guarded his privacy. He didn't have anything he was afraid of her finding, but he was certain she'd snoop and was therefore insistent they bring her along. (Jacob had teasingly offered to steal and hide her crutches, which Edward hadn't thought very amusing.) She hovered on the edge of their group, nervously plucking at her dress. She offered Bella a timid smile. "You look very pretty, Bella."

"Don't like," Bella said stoutly.

Nessa flinched, obviously thinking that Bella was talking about her. Jacob felt sorry enough for Nessa to add, "She means the dress."

"Oh." Nessa blinked rapidly and then tugged at her skirt again, as though she were trying to lengthen it. Jacob felt a flash of guilt; they should have told her in time to buy something suitable, but Edward had only thought to mention his objection to her remaining behind a couple of hours ago. Jacob knew how she felt. All his life, he'd been showing up at Cullen parties in cheap, badly-fitting or in inappropriately casual attire. He wondered, briefly, if anything of Bella's would fit her, but Bella already looked ready to mutiny. He wasn't going to add to her irritation.

"Remember, you're supposed to think we're going over there for dinner," Jacob said to Edward. He handed Edward the gift bag containing a bottle of wine. "Try to act surprised."

"I am surprised," Edward said, a little morose. "Surprised that my mother hasn't yet figured out I hate this sort of thing."

"She knows," Jacob replied, using the mirror in the foyer to straighten his tie. "She just thinks if she hits on the magical combination of party elements, you'll discover you like it after all."

"Done," Rose announced as she came back out into the living room. She swept up her tiny evening bag and studied everyone critically, to make sure they were up to snuff, except for Nessa, at whom she did not even glance. She straightened Emmett's tie and smoothed down the piece of hair on his crown which always wanted to stand up. "Let's go."

In the elevator on the way down, Bella and Edward spoke quietly in Quechua. "Well, I know that the problem with the dress is now," he told Jacob. "She says the color was the color of death in their culture, the color of the night sky right after the sun has disappeared below the horizon. She didn't tell me before because it's taboo to even speak of it."

Pieces clicked into place. "That's why corpses were always depicted as dark blue in their art. We all thought that the colors must have been damaged or darkened with age. Well, shit. Is she okay with wearing it?"

"I told her back in the apartment that Esme would be hurt if she refused to wear the dress, so now she thinks she has to."

"She sort of _does_," Jacob agreed reluctantly. "Especially after the car thing."

"I promised to explain it to mother so she'll never have to wear it again."

The building's door man opened the door of Bella's new car for them and they all piled inside. The back had two rows of seats that faced each other. Bella grimaced and poked at the leather seat. "Smell dead." Jacob supposed that trying to explain leather to a person from a culture that didn't use it would be rather difficult. Edward launched into an explanation in Quechua and Bella stared at the seat in horror, and then moved her stricken eyes to her shoes. She yanked them off of her feet and refused to put them back on. Jacob smothered a smile. Perhaps Bella would start a new, shoeless formalwear trend. (Replicas of her gold anklet had already started to show up in fashion magazines, according to Rose.)

They were stopped at the gate and checked by security, then again before they were allowed to exit the car in front of the house. Esme emerged from the house, her smile warm and welcoming. "Hello, darling!" She kissed her son's cheek and then Bella's.

"Hello, mother." Edward returned her kiss.

"Jacob." Esme smiled and gave him a swift hug, much to the surprise of everyone watching. "I'm glad you could come."

"Thank you," Jacob responded, attempting to appear nonchalant.

_"_And whom might this lovely creature be?" Esme asked. She took Nessa's hands in her own.

"This is Nessa." Emmett was the one who spoke, because no one seemed to know how to answer that question, including Nessa herself.

"Oh, yes. Felix had mentioned a new house guest by that name. Is she the injured friend you were at the hospital with yesterday morning?"

Everyone froze. "She's ... um ..." Emmett floundered.

"Jacob's girlfriend," Edward supplied.

"Yeah, _girlfriend_." Jacob planted a kiss on Nessa's cheek. Nessa blinked and plastered a large, fake smile on her face.

"I ... see," Esme said slowly. "Well, let's go in, everyone. Dinner is ready."

Jacob nearly snorted. Esme was terrible at this. If Edward hadn't already been in the know, his suspicions would have been immediately aroused because Esme had never served a meal immediately. There were always cocktails in the parlor before dinner was announced.

They followed her through the house to the dining room. She threw open the doors (another thing Esme would never have done herself if she were really putting on a dinner party) and the assembled guests called, "Surprise!" in unison.

Edward was, indeed, surprised. His eyes had landed on Alice, who stood at the right side of the group, holding Jessica Stanley's hand. Jacob inwardly cursed because he'd forgotten to tell Edward about their relationship with everything else going on.

Esme laughed in delight at Edward's expression and kissed his cheek. "Happy birthday, darling!"

"Thank you," Edward said automatically. Guests began to crowd around him to offer felicitations of their own and Edward's face flushed. Seeing his obvious distress, Bella elbowed her way through the knot of people and stamped her bare foot. "Shoo!"

Esme laughed again. "Come on, everyone. Out to the garden!"

Esme had always preferred outdoor parties and she did them well. The back of the Cullen home had a large, elaborate patio paved with flagstones, and paths which wandered between the ornamental planters, sculpture and seating areas. To the right was a large kidney-shaped swimming pool. Hundreds of lotus-shaped tea light candles floated on its surface. Colorful Japanese lanterns were strung above the garden, their light supplemented by dozens of tall metal candelabra strategically placed around the area.

A parquet dance floor had been set up in front of a stage and Alice's band struck up Mazzy Star's _Fade Into You._ Alice swayed slightly as she clutched the microphone on its stand, ethereal in a gauzy white gown, the hemline of which touched the floor in the back but was cut to her knees in front to reveal a pair of bright red patent leather boots. The strings had been replaced by black lace which criss-crossed her calves to tie below the knee. She also wore a black top hat with a white plastic daisy pinned to the side. Jessica hovered at the corner of the stage, smiling whenever Alice's gaze landed on her, but her eyes were otherwise fixed on Jacob.

Jacob got himself a beer from the bar and brought Edward a glass of wine, which he accepted gratefully. He had chosen a bench at the back of the garden, as hidden as he could be, but unable to avoid the knots of people who stopped by to wish him a happy birthday. Emmett was glued to Edward's side this time, practically quivering with tension. Bella let people speak to Edward until he started to look uncomfortable, then she would imperiously lift an arm and order them to "Shoo!" The startled guests did as commanded, exchanging amused glances as they drifted away.

"Shinx!" Bella cried. Jacob turned his head to look where she was pointing, but he saw nothing. "Where?"

"By tree." Bella's forehead wrinkled. "He go?"

"I don't see him, honey."

Bella pondered this for a moment and then shrugged. The song ended and she grasped Edward's hand in her own. She pointed at the dance floor. "Want do."

"Ask Jake," he replied and took a sip of his wine.

"No," she said. "Want _you_ do." She seized the wine glass and set it down on the plinth of one of Esme's marble statues, then dragged a protesting Edward toward the stage.

"Ahlss, sing _Come Monday_," Bella ordered. She went up on tiptoe to twine her arms around Edward's neck and he smiled at her as they slowly spun around the dance floor. Edward gazed down into her upturned face, and - as was easy for him to do - he got lost in her soft brown eyes. Love shone from them and he wondered how he had ever gotten so lucky.

"I love you."

Bella smiled. "I love you."

When the song ended, Edward blinked his way back to reality and found that they were the only two on the dance floor. The guests applauded them. Edward blushed, but he bent to give Bella a soft kiss on the lips and a few cheers rose from the onlookers. He saw Esme, over by the edge of the stage, furtively wipe away tears.

* * *

><p>Jacob waited until Edward and Bella were in the midst of another slow dance and then slipped into the house to find a bathroom. He figured most people would use the guest bath on the first floor, adjoining the small atrium that Edward's father had converted into an office, so he headed up to the second floor toward the bathroom beside Edward's old room. He turned the corner and ran into an embracing couple. "Oh, shit! Sorry!"<p>

They turned to him. It was Paul Lahote and Angela Weber. Both were blushing. Jacob gave them a grin and a conspiratorial wink, and continued on his way. Angela would be good for Paul, he thought. She was sweet and kind, and Paul needed a bit of kindness.

He emerged from the bathroom and froze in his tracks to find Jessica leaning against the hallway wall, waiting for him.

"Jacob," she said. She looked up into his eyes and her face was soft and dreamy.

Jacob cleared his throat. "Gotta get back to the party. Excuse me."

"Wait, please. Just talk to me for a moment. I need to tell you something."

"I don't think it's anything I need to hear, Jessica."

She put a hand on his arm to stop him. "The dean called me. Are you really trying to replace me as your TA?"

"Jessica, I really don't think we should work together any more."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, you're dating my sister," Jacob said impatiently. "I told the dean that it was a conflict of interest. That's all he needs to know."

"I don't love Alice," she whispered. "I'm only with Alice so I can be closer to you."

Jacob cringed. He really wished she hadn't told him that. "Christ, Jessica. You know I'm going to tell her, don't you?"

Jessica dashed the tears from her eyes with a rough brush of her hand. "She won't believe you."

"Maybe not, but she deserves to know the truth." Jacob brushed by her and headed for the stairs.

She called after him, "You may be able to replace me as your TA, but you can't get me out of your life completely!"

Jacob didn't reply. He trotted down the stairs and back out to the garden. Edward frowned slightly when he saw Jacob's expression. "Are you all right?"

Jacob nodded. He picked up his beer and took a healthy swig. This was going to be a long fucking night.

It got worse. Alice's band took a break a little while later and he should have known his sister would march over to where he was sitting, her face set in indignant lines, an avenging angel in red boots.

"You need to apologize to Jessica. She came out to find me, crying her eyes out from something you said. She wouldn't say what it was, but I can guess."

"She's using you, Alice." He didn't say why. Bella took the opportunity to slip away. He didn't blame her. Edward looked like he wanted to disappear as well.

Alice's angry eyes sparkled with tears. "Of _course_ she is. No one could possibly love _me_, right? They all have to be with me because of some ulterior motives."

"That's not what I meant, Allie."

"You think I'm stupid," she spat. "You think I can't tell when something's real or not. I know I've made mistakes, but -"

"Goddammit, Allie! I am not your enemy!" Jacob shouted. Heads swiveled in their direction. Jacob took a deep breath and forced himself to lower his voice. "I don't know how you ever got this idea in your head that I don't want you to be happy, but I can see that I'm not going to be able to change your mind about it. I love you, Alice. Don't you understand? I love you, and so does Emmett. All our lives, all we have ever wanted is for you to be safe and happy. God, if you found someone who treated you right and loved you like you deserve, I'd fall on my knees and kiss their feet from joy, I swear to Christ, I would."

Jacob sighed at the stricken expression on her face. "I know how badly you want it, Alice. How badly you want to be loved, and to give your love to someone who will cherish it. I know because I've always wanted the same thing. But you're so eager for it that you'll believe anyone who says it and make excuses when their actions don't show it."

Alice spun on her heel and marched away.

A splash and gasps told Jacob where Bella had disappeared to. He groaned and surged to his feet. Edward had apparently been chasing after her and he froze helplessly on the edge of the pool, staring down at his wife's wavery form at the bottom. He lifted panicked eyes to meet Jacob's. Bella might stay down there too long. Jacob didn't hesitate. He dove in, and swam down to her. Bella smiled and waved at him. Jacob's sigh went up in bubbles. He took hold of her arm and pulled her to the surface.

"_Biiig_ wash," Bella noted thoughtfully. "Cold wash, no foam."

"Yeah, three out of five stars," Jacob said. He slogged through the shallow end to the stairs and stood Bella on her feet. Rosalie's intricate up-do was now a sodden mop, and Bella's dress clung to ever curve.

Esme quickly glanced around. "Oh, poor dear!" she cried. "I _told_ the gardener about that loose stone. Are you all right? Come on inside and let's get you some dry clothing. You, too, Jacob."

The room she led them to had once been Carlisle's study, and before that, a sun porch with tile floors and French doors which opened to the gardens. Esme had left it exactly as it had looked the last day Carlisle had used it, so it had the air of a museum or shrine. When they were younger, Edward had sometimes come down to this room to sleep on the sofa when he particularly missed his father.

"Wait here. I'll have Angela fetch both of you something from upstairs. I have to get back to the guests." She looked at Bella with a small, wry smile. "Couldn't help yourself, could you, darling?"

Bella grinned at her and Esme chuckled softly before going off in search of Angela.

They both dripped on the tile floor. Jacob shivered a little in the air conditioning. He couldn't get the image of Alice's angry face out of his mind. Her eyes ... She'd looked like she hated him. Jacob sagged down onto the wicker bench, dejected.

"Sad Shaykob," Bella said. She sat down beside him and twined her arms around his neck.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. She hummed to him and stroked his hair until he had a better grip on his emotions. He kissed the tip of Bella's nose and she giggled, which made him smile, but abruptly, her expression changed. He followed her gaze and saw Jessica Stanley in the door way, her cell phone held out as she snapped a photo of him holding Bella Cullen in his arms.

Jessica smirked. "Perfect."

* * *

><p>By the time they emerged back outside, the photo was already making the rounds. Jacob saw furtive glances as phones, gasps and giggles. He tugged Bella along behind him as he headed for the only person whose opinion mattered.<p>

"Edward."

Emmett's eyes widened. He was showing Edward something on his phone and he quickly shoved it behind his back.

"That fast, huh?" Jacob asked, his voice faint.

"The wonders of the digital age," Edward said. He took the phone from Emmett and handed it to Jacob. Jacob winced at the image on the screen. It looked even worse than he'd thought it would. Jessica had snapped the photo either immediately before or after the kiss and it looked ...

Jacob dropped the phone into Emmett's hands. "Edward ..."

Edward swished a hand through the air. "You don't even have to say it."

"I think I'll need to say it to her." Jacob nodded at Esme, who was threading her way through the crowd toward them. Her smile, plastered firmly in place, chilled his blood. She looked like a shark: cold, merciless, deadly.

"I'd like to see the both of you in the house," she said pleasantly.

Bella rose to follow them and Esme slashed a glare in her direction. "Not you."

"Muvver?" Bella's look of hurt and confusion was painful to see.

Esme's smile stayed firmly in place, but her voice was like acid. "Don't you even speak to me, you little -"

Bella gasped softly and darted away, disappearing into the whispering crowd.

For the first time in his life, Edward saw his mother at a loss. She kept that empty and somehow vicious smile plastered on her face as she strode quickly for the house. The whispers erupted into full-blown chatter in her absence. Edward didn't look at any of them as he followed his mother. Jacob, Emmett and Rose were close behind.

She closed the door behind them and turned to Jacob. Before he could even blink, she slapped him across the face with all of the force she could muster. For such a small woman, she packed a hell of a wallop. Jacob staggered back. He touched a hand to his lip and drew it back with a smear of blood. "Get out of my house," she said quietly.

Jacob nodded. He turned to go.

"No, Jacob, don't leave," Edward told him. "We all need to talk this over like rational adults. It's not what you think."

"What I _think_ is that the man you've thought of as a best friend for the last twenty years has betrayed you in the most fundamental fashion possible."

"He wouldn't do that," Edward said.

Esme shook her head. Her lips twisted in disgust. "Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, you are a damned _fool._"

Jacob's voice was tentative. "I know how it looks, but I swear -"

Esme lunged at him and Rose deftly caught her around the waist and spun her out of the way before she could hit him again.

"I saw the whole thing," Nessa said suddenly.

Everyone froze. They had all forgotten she was in the room.

"I saw what happened," she lied. "Jacob didn't do anything wrong, Mrs. Cullen. It was a trick, a camera angle that made it look bad, but Jacob didn't do anything inappropriate."

Esme wanted to believe her. Indecisive, she opened and closed her mouth, as if her words kept escaping her.

"Mother, I trust Jacob with my life," Edward said softly. "I don't even need to ask him what happened. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I know he would never betray me, and neither would Bella."

Esme sat down on the sofa and buried her head in her hands. "It will be all over the internet within an hour. Newspapers tomorrow, magazines at the end of the week." She looked up at them, naked helplessness in her eyes. "What are we going to do?"

* * *

><p>Something had changed, dramatically.<p>

The Dark Goddess didn't understand it. People around her were smirking at her, whispering snidely to their neighbors. She frowned and tried to approach a small group, but they scattered before she could reach them. The Dark Goddess blinked hard as stinging tears invaded her eyes. She walked away quickly to a shadowed bench under a pair of trees.

"Goddess." She turned and found Shinx emerging from the shrubbery, as though he had materialized from the leaves.

"So you were here, after all," she said dully.

He bowed. "I wanted to speak with you when you were alone."

"Shinx, I don't understand. What's happening?" She glanced around at the mean faces, the hostility, the scorn.

"They think they can treat you badly now," Shinx said. He rested his hands on her shoulders."Esme has removed her protection of you. This is what they were hiding all along beneath their polite smiles and obsequious fawning."

The Dark Goddess blinked back tears, drawing on decades of regal training. She would not let them see her cry, not let them know that they had hurt her. Anger came to her rescue. Anger was easier, safer.

"These are their true faces," Shinx whispered. His breath was warm on her ear. "Humans are cruel when they think they can get away with it. They think you are powerless. They think you are_ nothing_. And so they will try to wound you, simply because they can."

"I am the Dark Goddess, Mistress of Night, Lady of Rain," she said, but her voice trembled. In the candle light, eyes glinted with glee, seemingly delighted to now be free of courtesy toward her. Someone brayed with laughter, loudly, as though to ensure that she'd hear it.

"Show them, Goddess. Open the skies. Show them what you are."

She trembled. Her eyes met with a woman on the other side of the garden. The woman saw the stricken expression on he Dark Goddess's face and smirked. She thought that the Dark Goddess's anger was impotent.

Her power swelled and built within her. A low rumbling sound made the guests look around uneasily. The ground began to ..._ sizzle._ That was the word that people would use afterward to describe it because none other seemed to fit. Dust jumped between the blades of grass like sand on the head of a drum. It rose in a swirling gray mist.

The Dark Goddess spread her hands as a static hum vibrated in the air. The wind began to swirl, driving the mist upward. Women smoothed down hair and skirts that lifted in the breeze. Around the edges of the garden, the trees swayed and rustled. The leaves silvered as the wind turned them.

The gritty gray mist continued to rise and the clouds overhead darkened ominously. A growl of thunder. The dust particles rubbing together created flashes of electricity in the clouds. Despite the rising winds, the clouds stayed in place overhead, churning, darkening. The rumble grew louder and there were a few cries of fear as a sharp crack of thunder split the sky. Bella's head fell back, power crackling along every nerve ending in a narcotic rush. Her hair floated around her in a dark halo.

In the back of the crowd, the woman who had smirked at Bella felt a drop of water land on her cheek. She looked up and that's when the clouds began to release their burden of rain. It came down in gray sheets, as suddenly as though a switch had been flipped, a driving heavy shower that soaked the guests to the skin in an instant. Shrieks as the women ran for the house. Someone ran into the cake table and knocked it over and it was crushed into the sodden grass by trampling feet.

* * *

><p>Edward felt, rather than heard, the storm arrive and he knew on some instinctive level that it wasn't natural. <em>Bella<em>, he thought. He had to get Bella. Panic blanked out rational thought as he burst through the door to the garden and looked around for her. The rain was coming down so hard that he could barely see. _There!_ Her moon-pale skin stood out against the darkness. He ran toward her, across the rain-slicked patio.

"Bella!"

She stood there, with her arms raised, a sweetly dreamy expression on her face and he abruptly realized that she had done this. The gray mist that had risen from the crackling ground suddenly made sense. "Cloud seeding," Edward said, his voice soft with wonder. "That's how you did it."

A metallic smell sharpened the air. Bella snapped out of her reverie and swiveled her head toward the stage where Alice stood, frozen, staring up into the rain. The rest of the band had already fled.

"Ahlss!" she called, but Alice wasn't paying attention to her. Water gathered on the surface of the stage around her boots. It seemed to happen at the same instant: Bella vanished from in front of Edward and slammed into Alice to knock her from the stage just as a blinding flash of lightning seared the microphone stand, vaporizing part of it instantly. Screams of panic from the few left in the garden.

Edward ran over and scooped the stunned Alice from the grass and took Bella's hand in his own. They ran for the house where the rest of the wet and bedraggled guests stood, looking solemnly out at the driving rain.

A woman spoke to break the silence: "You throw the most interesting parties, Esme."

Through the window, Bella could see Jinx, standing in the rain, smiling.


	19. Chapter 19

~.~  
>Chapter Nineteen<p>

~.~

"We'll deal with it," Edward told Esme. She had met them outside when their car arrived. Edward bent and kissed her cheek. "Once people see that there really isn't a story here, they'll let it go."

Esme gave her son a small smile, one which didn't reach her eyes. "I hope you're right."

"I am. Don't worry, mother."

Esme turned to Jacob, but apparently found it difficult to raise her eyes to meet his. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have hit you. I ... I'm ashamed of my lack of self-control."

"It's all right," Jacob said. "I don't really blame you. I probably would have wanted to do the same if it were my son."

She turned to Bella and her discomfiture became worse. "I'm ... Bella, I'm sorry."

Bella nodded and patted her shoulder. Esme pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "But know this: if you ever hurt my son, they'll never find your body."

Jacob could tell that Bella had no idea what Esme meant. She simply nodded again and slid into the car when the driver opened the door. She was followed by Nessa, who hopped on one foot after feeding her crutches inside and then dropped onto one of the seats with a soft "Oof!" She squeezed as close to the door as possible, as though she were trying to make herself invisible. There as a soft clunk as the driver shut his door and then the engine purred to life. The wipers beat furiously at the rain sheeting down the windshield, but only a couple blocks away, it ceased as abruptly as though the tap had been turned off and the darkened streets were dry.

Edward was scribbling in a little notebook he'd taken from his back pocket. He sneezed.

"B'essoo," Bella said.

"Christ, Edward, I'm so sorry," Jacob blurted.

"Jacob, you did nothing wrong. I'm not going to blame you because someone tried to frame you, for God's sake. Besides, it'll be a non-issue in a few days. The media will find something else to obsess over once they see there's nothing here. Rosalie, can you please save Bella's dress for me? I want to test the dust particles that likely adhered to the fabric. Cloud seeding is often done with silver iodine and I want to see if the composition of dust she sent up was metallic or hygroscopic."

"Yeah, sure," Rosalie muttered.

"Ahlss okay?" Bella asked Emmett, who had tried to calm down his semi-hysterical sister before their car had been brought around. She'd been led away by Jessica, still crying. "She scared."

"She'll be fine, sweetie," Emmett assured her. "She was just a little shaken up."

"Fucking Jessica," Jacob muttered. "She caught up with me at the party and said she was only with Alice so she could force her way into my life."

"Why is it that almost every woman in our lives is insane?" Emmett groaned. He glanced quickly at Rose. "Present company excluded, of course."

"If only we could determine a common denominator, we might be able to solve this mystery," Rose lamented, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

Edward laughed.

"Thank you, Nessa," Jacob said.

Nessa jumped slightly. "What?"

"Thank you. Thank you for ... uh ... for lying and saying that you saw the whole thing. That was kind of you."

"Oh." Nessa picked at the hem of her sundress. "Yeah, sure."

"I don't think Esme is completely convinced that Bella is innocent," Emmett said, as always, master of stating the obvious. "Without her going to bat for Bella -"

"Excuse me, Dr. Cullen?" the driver called. "What should I do?" He gestured out the window at the problem and simultaneous gasps rose at the sight of the crowd surrounding the front door of the Masen International building.

"Who are all of those people?" Emmett asked.

"Oh ... _fuck_," Jacob breathed.

"Why would there be reporters here?" Edward asked, bewildered.

Jacob rubbed his temples. Edward knew that photographers were often dispatched to his mother's parties, but he thought that it was because of the celebrities that attended them. Esme had kept her son carefully sheltered from the media, and while Edward was safely cocooned in the world of science, he was boring and the media more or less complied with Esme's wishes in exchange for the occasional photo op. Now that scandal had hit the Cullens, there was blood in the water and the sharks were circling. Jacob had known it would be bad, but he hadn't known it would happen so quickly. Apparently, the tabloid media had a faster response time than ambulances or cops.

Emmett explained: "You're from one of the richest families in America and you're a certified genius. You're like Stephen Hawking, but without that cool computer voice thing."

"Go in through the garage," Rosalie said to the driver. "Get as close to the elevators as possible."

It was a good idea, in theory. After all, access was supposed to be restricted to employees and residents. But as soon as they pulled through the gate, a herd of cameramen swarmed the car. Lenses pressed against the darkened glass and flashes exploded in the interior. Bella gave a soft cry and covered her eyes. Emmett whipped off his suit jacket and used it to cover her face, protecting her sensitive eyes from the bursts of light.

They followed the car as the driver crept forward, cursing. He laid on the horn to try to clear a path but the photographers had discovered that the front glass wasn't tinted and they could get better shots through it. Some edged back to avoid being bumped by the car, but the bolder ones stood their ground and refused to budge.

"We're going to have to make a run for the elevator from here," Jacob said.

Edward's face was waxy and sick with horror. "I can't," he choked, slowly surveying the crowd of people that pressed in on all sides.

"You must," Rose told him. "They won't go away."

"Can we go to your place?" Edward asked Jacob. He was referring to Jacob's childhood home.

"They're probably there, too," Rose said.

Jacob groaned. His parents would love the attention. Billy Black hated Edward, "that rich little shit", as he called him, and if the media offered him beer money, he'd tell them anything they wanted to hear. Sick with shame, he closed his eyes.

"Come on," Rose said to Emmett.

"What?"

"We're the bodyguards, remember? We need to clear a path." Rose lowered the window an inch, and immediately, camera lenses were crammed against it. Blinding flashes of light and shouts filled the interior of the car.

"I'm opening the door!" Rose shouted. "Get back!" She pushed it open and reporters swarmed into the opening she created. Rose stood and gestured fast. She swung her evening bag like a club and the reporters in the front cringed back from it, but couldn't move because of the ones pressing in from behind them. "Come on! Hurry!"

"This is crazy," Edward protested as he scrambled after Emmett, who used his size and an intimidating glare to push the reporters back a few feet so that the others could emerge. Edward tugged Bella behind him. She still hid her face in Emmett's jacket. Nessa thrust her crutches through the opening and Jacob immediately saw the problem. He handed the crutches to Rose, who used them to hold back the jostling crowd and Jacob scooped Nessa up into his arms. She gave a little squeak of surprise and flung her arms around his neck as though she were afraid he'd drop her. Her body felt surprisingly good against his own, soft and warm. Her dark auburn ponytail brushed against his arm and Jacob was surprised by how silky it was.

He was jarred back to reality by a reporter's shout: "Jacob! Jacob! How long have you been fucking your best friend's wife?"

"Go, go!" Rose ordered. She marched forward with the bold and determined air of someone who wouldn't stop for anyone or anything, swinging Nessa's crutches in her path. It worked; reporters darted out of her way. The rest of the group huddled closely behind her, trying to shield themselves from cameras and microphones thrust at them like swords. Bella let out a soft cry as a photographer grabbed the sleeve of Emmett's jacket and tried to yank it away to bare her face to his rapidly-clicking camera.

"Don't touch her!" Edward shouted and gave him a shove. The reporter thrust his camera into Edward's angry face.

"Bella! Are you pregnant? Who's the father?"

"Almost there, guys," Rose called back.

"What did your mother say, Edward?"

Someone grabbed Bella's arm and she gave a fierce little cry. Something like a wave of pressure fanned out around their small group. There were startled shouts and a few screams as the reporters fell like wheat before a farmer's scythe.

"Come on!" Emmett urged and they darted for the elevators through the opening.

One of them stood by the elevator. He thrust a paper into Edward's hand. It was a photo which must have been snapped by one of the guests in the garden: Bella and Jacob, his lips an inch from hers, both of them smiling. "_NEW CULLEN BRIDE CAUGHT IN CLENCH WITH HUBBY'S BEST BUD!" _was emblazoned across the top. "What do you think? It's tomorrow's front page."

Edward dropped it and hit the elevator call button.

"Come on, come on," Rose whispered, casting anxious glances over her shoulder at the reporters who had regained their feet and were surging toward them with renewed vigor.

The elevator doors opened. They tumbled inside and Emmett punched frantically at the DOOR CLOSE button. A foot swung inside to stop the doors from closing and Rose gave the ankle to which it was attached a hard kick. The door closed on a yelp of pain.

"Jesus Carhartt-wearing Christ," Emmett said. "That was ... I don't _know_ what that was."

Bella put her arms around Edward. "Edwurr okay?" she asked softly.

He nodded. He was lying. She sighed and laid her head against his chest.

Felix looked relieved when they came through the door into the apartment. "I'm glad to see you home," he said. "That crowd outside ... The phone has been ringing constantly for the last hour."

Jacob put Nessa on her good foot and Rose gave her back her crutches. She hopped off to the side of the room and leaned against the wall.

"Batten down the fucking hatches, Felix," Rose said. "We're going into siege mode."

Felix nodded and held out a small pile of paper slips. "I took messages," he said, unusually uncertain.

"Throw them out," Edward told him. He took his cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. It chimed repeatedly from messages and missed calls. Edward swiftly scanned the list and turned it off again."I'm not accepting calls from anyone. In fact, disconnect the phone line."

"Not yet," Nessa interjected. "I have to call Victoria."

"Daily spying report?"

Nessa met his eyes levelly. "Think I'd announce it if it was?"

Jacob didn't reply.

Nessa sighed. "Listen, I know you guys think the worst of me, and there's probably not much I could say to change your minds about that. But just because I'm Victoria's friend doesn't make me Bella's enemy. I don't want to hurt her. In fact, I'm trying to buy you guys some time."

"So, what's the rush to report, then?"

"Victoria will hear about it within a couple of days, at the most. If I don't tell her, she'll think I'm holding back on her."

"Goodness, we wouldn't want that, now, would we?" Rose said sweetly.

Nessa gave a soft sound of frustration. "I'm trying to _help_ you! I'm trying to act as a liaison between you and Victoria. I'm representing you to her so that she doesn't think the worst and I'm also trying to make you guys understand that she's not Empress Cixi."

"Who?" Emmett said.

"The last Empress of China," Edward said. "Qing dynasty."

"Oh." Emmett nodded as though that explained everything. "Evil queen, right?"

Edward shrugged. "Historians say -"

"Uh, can we get back on topic?" Rose demanded.

"Sorry," Emmett said. (Later, Jacob would notice that Emmett had Googled "Seechee" on Edward's laptop.)

Nessa continued, "She's not a tyrant. But now Jinx has gotten Bella to reveal her power to the humans, though they won't realize it. Victoria and the Council sure will, though, and that's exactly what he intended."

"But why?"

"Because he wants to force us into a war," Nessa said grimly. "That's what Victoria suspects, anyway."

A silence fell, so deep that it seemed no one even breathed.

Nessa cleared her throat. "So, anyway, I need to talk to her before someone else gives her the news. I'm going to do what I can, guys, to try to lessen the impact of this."

"Goodnights" were exchanged and they all headed off to their bedrooms. Jacob shut his bedroom door behind himself. He leaned back against it for a moment, staring up at the ceiling. With a sigh, he started for the bathroom to take a shower. That's when he saw the tray that had been set on the end of his bed. It contained a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label and a single glass. A folded paper leaned against it, his name written on the front. Jacob opened it with a frown.

..

_Jacob,_

_With my compliments.  
><em>

_Jinx  
><em>

_..  
><em>

"What the fuck?" Jacob muttered. Felix hadn't said anything about Jinx being here. Jacob picked up the bottle to go look for him and then realized that maybe Felix didn't know. He could have been bespelled again.

Jacob sat down on the foot of the bed and turned the bottle in his hands. A bottle of oblivion, or at least, that was the lie the amber liquid told him. He knew from experience that it wouldn't make him feel better. It would only make it worse, especially tomorrow, when he woke with a splitting headache and despised himself for his weakness.

But why in the hell would Jinx have given him a two hundred dollar bottle of scotch?

_For the same reason he encouraged Bella to show her power._

The thought startled him. Did Jinx know his issues with alcohol? Did he intend to encourage Jacob to self-destruction?

His fingers brushed the cap and curled around the neck of the bottle. His muscles tensed to lift it, but he forced his hand to open. He dropped the bottle back on the tray and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Shaykob."

He glanced at her. Bella stood in the doorway, still in her party gown, though her hair had been brushed out and the remnants of the makeup washed away. "What are you doing in here, honey?" he asked. "You should be with Edward right now."

She shook her head. "I say Edwurr, 'Shaykob sad. I talk.' He t'ink I should."

Bella sat down on the edge of bed beside him. She reached out to pat his hand, but she seemed to need comfort herself, as her eyes were terribly sad.

"I have ... mind see," she said. She waved a hand in the air beside her ear.

"Memory," he offered.

"Mem-ry," she agreed with a nod. "I have mem'ry of rain days. My people make party, say, 'T'ankoo, Goddess, for rain'."

"A festival."

She looked less certain of that word, but nodded again. "My people dance and sing for me. Other fess-vals, too, t'ank me and I get gifts, but rain days I love most. I feel my people love." Pink tears welled in her eyes, even as she tried to smile. "I t'ink of rain days when sad. But now am more sad. No one need me. No one need my rain."

"Edward needs you," he said.

"Edwurr need you too. He not mad, Shaykob. Tell me, what your happy mem'ry?"

Jacob thought for a moment. "I don't really have one."

Pink tears welled in Bella's eyes, and though she had come to comfort him, they ended up comforting each other.

* * *

><p>The next week was one of the most difficult of Jacob's life.<p>

Felix was the only one who left the apartment, to purchase groceries and newspapers. The rest of them holed up in the apartment; Rose's description of a siege was apt.

The media was brutal. Edward had been wrong in his assertion that it would all blow over in a few days as people got bored with the story. What they hadn't anticipated was the willingness of some people to keep it going. On the third afternoon after the party, Jacob emerged from his room to find Edward sitting on the floor in the living room, surrounded by newspapers and printed web articles, drinking a Yoo-Hoo as he read. He'd silently handed a couple to Jacob.

As Jacob had anticipated, his parents gleefully embraced media attention and progressed quickly from telling stories of Jacob and Edward's childhood to ones they invented. In their tales, it was always Edward who was the villain, an arrogant, mean-spirited rich kid. Jacob was his whipping boy, blamed for all of Edward's misdeeds.

The NDA prevented Tanya from talking about Edward, but she could talk about Jacob all she wanted and talk she did. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned_, Jacob thought as her interview fell from his nerveless fingers. She claimed Jacob had tried to seduce her, tried forcibly. Those articles hinted strongly that Edward had been bullied or blackmailed by Jacob into accepting his romance with Bella. When Lauren joined in with Tanya, adding claims of sexual harassment, Jacob knew what the inevitable result would be. He was expecting the letter, but when it appeared in the inbox of his email, he was depressed and bitter.

_"Dr. Black, it's with regret that we must inform you that budget cuts have forced us to reduce our staff for the upcoming academic year, and due to the declining enrollment in the history/anthropology programs, we have no choice but to eliminate a position in that department."_ He had until the end of the month to empty out his office.

Edward was furious about it and wanted to resign in protest, which Jacob would not let him do. The following week, he more-or-less bullied Edward into going back to the university, to do the research he'd been making notes about all week. He couldn't let Edward fight his battles. He warned Edward that if he left Austlyn, the next university might make him _teach_, a thought which made Edward's eyes widen with horror. His reaction gave Jacob the first laugh he'd had all week.

Rose encouraged Edward to go as well, but for another reason. She was worried that if they didn't give the media _something_ to focus on, they would start digging into Bella's life. She had no doubt that there were already journalists in Catalupa who might be digging around for dirt on Bella that they could sell to the interested American press. When they didn't find anything except for a few records here and there, they were bound to get suspicious. And if that was reported in the media, Bella might come under the scrutiny of the INS.

The media was treating Bella as a slutty weirdo. Someone had snapped a photo of her during the rain storm, which showed her, arms spread and head tilted back, her hair in undulating black waves around her. A couple articles hinted that she was a Wiccan and was either worshiping the storm or had deluded herself into thinking she'd summoned it. Rose, whose cousin actually was a Wiccan, was so offended by the mischaracterization of the faith that she wanted to call and chew them out and it was only with effort that Edward managed to talk her down. He insisted that complaints or lawsuits would only keep the media going. The best idea was to remain as quiet as possible and hope that everyone got bored with it soon.

Edward put on a knit cap and a pair of sunglasses and went to the university the next evening. Emmett followed him, wearing one of his suits and a pair of dark sunglasses of his own. He looked like he was in the Secret Service, which was to say, not very "secret" at all. The door opened a few minutes after they'd left and Jacob turned around, expecting to see Edward returning for something he'd forgotten. Instead, it was Alice.

"Felix approved me," she said softly. "Um ... this isn't a bad time, is it? I'd like to talk to you."

Jacob was cooking some breakfast for himself. "No, it's fine. Are you hungry? Want some eggs?"

Alice shook her head and took a seat at the counter. "How are you doing, Jake?"

"I've been better." Jacob dumped his scrambled eggs onto a plate and took the ketchup from the refrigerator. He sat down beside Alice, who grimaced when he squirted the ketchup generously all over the eggs. "That's so gross."

"Don't know what you're missing," Jacob said, and forked a large bite into his mouth.

"I wanted to tell you I was sorry." Alice picked up Jacob's butter knife and played with it distractedly. "I said some really harsh things to you, and if I'd known you were hurting ..."

Jacob took a drink of his orange juice. "What are you talking about, Allie?"

"I'll help you," Alice said earnestly.

"Help me what?"

"I'll help you get Bella away from him."

"What? Allie, you don't believe that crap in the papers do you? I'm not in love with Bella. I mean, I love her, but like a sister-in-law, not romantically."

Alice looked terribly sad. "Jacob, you don't have to pretend with me."

"I'm not. I'm telling you -"

There was a terrible crash. Alice and Jacob both jumped and whirled to see Emmett stagger through the door. He looked like hell, his face battered and bloody. His suit was torn and he was limping. "Edward's gone," he croaked.


	20. Chapter 20

.

~.~

Chapter Twenty

~.~

"What do you mean, 'gone'?" Jacob demanded. He stood so fast that he knocked his chair over and it fell to the floor with a clatter that made all of them jump. He helped Emmett to a chair as Alice darted into the kitchen to yank open drawers until she found one with dishcloths. She dampened one of them in the sink and sponged the blood away from her brother's face.

"They took him," Emmett rasped. He winced when Alice dabbed at his split lip and she told hm to hold still in a calm, firm tone as she inspected the damage. "I tried, Jake. I fought as hard as I could but they ..."

"Bella!" Jacob shouted. "_Bella!_"

He heard the bang of a door and the patter of Bella's bare feet. "Shaykob?" Rose and Nessa weren't far behind.

"Emmett? What the hell?" Rose gasped. "You're hurt?"

"We need to call the cops," Alice said. "Edward's been kidnapped."

"Shaykob!" Bella tugged urgently on his arm. "What wrong? Please!"

Jacob took a deep breath. "It's Edward. He's been kidnapped."

She shook her head slightly, unfamiliar with the word.

"Stolen," Jacob amended. "Taken away."

"Edwurr ... gone?" Bella swayed on her feet and Jacob caught her by the shoulders to stop her from pitching over.

He felt an eerie calm descend over him, like slipping into a pool of cool water. He turned to Emmett. "Who were they?"

"I don't know. I've never seen them before. A girl and two guys. It happened so fast, I didn't get a real good look at them."

"Did you get a license plate number?"

Emmett flushed a little. "No. Sorry."

Rose snapped her fingers. "Security! They probably have cameras in the garage. I'm going to see if I can get a copy of the tape. Maybe we can get a license plate number."

"Good idea," Jacob said, grateful to have a place to start, at least. Rose bolted for the front door.

"Jacob?" Nessa was only a few feet away, her expression uncertain. "Is everything okay? I heard -"

She never got to finish that sentence because Jacob charged across the room and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where?" he snapped.

"Where what?"

"Don't play innocent with me, you bitch!" Jacob snarled. "Where did they take him?"

Nessa shook beneath his hands. Her eyes were huge in her ashen face. "Jacob, I swear to you, I don't know what you're talking about!"

Bella's eyes narrowed and Nessa relaxed, her face slack and vacant as Bella hit her with her mental whammy. "You know who take Edwurr?"

"Someone, call the police!" Alice insisted from behind them. Everyone ignored her.

"No, I don't know," Nessa murmured. Her voice was dull and flat. Bella released her and Nessa blinked as awareness came back.

"She tell true," Bella said. Her despairing eyes met Jacob's. She closed them for a moment and a tremor went through her. When she re-opened her eyes, they were hard and cold. "When I find out who take my Edwrurr, I kill t'em. _I kill t'em all_." As though to punctuate her words, there was a crack of thunder and lightning split the sky.

"I'll help," Jacob vowed. He'd never been much for fighting, but the fury burning in his heart made him think he really could kill someone. "Tell me what happened, Emmett."

"We were in the garage," Emmett said. "I was gonna drive, so we were walking toward Edward's car. This van pulled up and two guys jumped out. They grabbed Edward and shoved him in the van. I tried to fight 'em, Jake."

"Call the police!" Alice cried again and when no one moved, she went to the wall and yanked the phone from the cradle.

"No, Allie, don't," Emmett said. "The cops can't help with this."

Alice paused with her fingers poised over the buttons. "Are you guys ... in the mob or something?" She glanced at Bella and her eyes narrowed slightly as if she blamed Bella for whatever trouble her brothers had encountered.

Jacob and Emmett exchanged glances. "It's nothing criminal," Jacob said. "It's ... uh ... kind of hard to explain."

"Try." Alice's voice was flat.

"Bella's a vampire."

Alice went still for a moment and then she nodded. "Okay, that explains a lot."

Jacob's laugh was a sharp crack in the stillness that made all of them jump. Only Alice would take a statement like that with such aplomb.

"She picked me up by my neck with one hand, Jake. An ordinary woman couldn't do something like that." Alice shrugged. "I knew there was _something_ different about her, especially after she moved so fast to save me from the lightning."

_Okay, get back on track._ They could talk about this later. He turned to Emmett. "Were they human?"

Emmett hesitated. "I don't know. I'm sorry, Jake. I know I'm not being helpful, here, but it happened so_ fast."_

Rose made a small sound and asked Nessa, "Did Victoria say anything to you when you last spoke to her? Anything unusual at all?"

Nessa shook her head. "No, nothing. In fact, she was making plans with me for the next couple of weeks, people she wanted me to try to introduce to Bella."

"Who then? The Council?" Rose's voice was sharp.

"I can't imagine they'd go against Victoria's wishes like that," Nessa said, but her words were hesitant.

"Call Victoria," Rose ordered. "Find out if she knows anything and if not, tell her what's happened. And tell her that Bella is on the fucking war path, so it's in her best interest to help us find Edward, and_ fast._"

Nessa nodded and plucked the phone from Alice's hand. She was already dialing as she headed down the hall to her room.

"Need sharp," Bella said.

"What?"

Bella pulled a knife from the block by the cutting board. She spread her hands to indicate a greater length.

"A sword," Jacob said. "I don't know where to go to get one, honey. It's not like you can pop down to Walmart and pick one up in the 'archaic weaponry' aisle."

"Jasper," Alice offered. "I bet he'd know."

Jacob grimaced. "We're not exactly on the best of terms right now, Allie."

Alice tilted up her chin. "He'll do it for me."

"Get guns," Emmett said. "_Lots_ of guns."

"Yeah." Guns wouldn't kill a vampire, but they could injure them enough to incapacitate them until the vampire could heal.

"Think we'll get a ransom call?" Emmett shrugged out of his torn coat with a wince.

"It's possible, I suppose. Whomever they are, they took Edward because they want something. Either from him or from Bella. He's no good to them ..." Jacob had to stop for a moment because he couldn't force out the word. "He's no good to them ... dead."

* * *

><p><em>Pain.<em>

_Dark._

His head hurt terribly. Edward tried to lift a hand to touch it and discovered that his wrists were bound behind his back. He turned his head and his cheek brushed against something slick and crinkly. It was a waxed paper bag that smelled strongly of cat food. He took a swift and silent inventory of his body. His face burned and stung and he could taste blood in his mouth. All of his teeth seemed to be present. There was a sharp pain every time he inhaled; a rib broken, likely.

He was in a vehicle. He could hear the rumble of the engine and the hollow hum of its tires on the road.

_Voices._

" - get to the airport - " A man was speaking, a man with a voice that sounded like a chain being dragged over gravel. He didn't recognize it.

Edward tried to remain calm, but it was difficult. He was in deep shit.

"He's awake," a female voice said. "His heart beat has sped up."

Silence. No one spoke after that.

A while later, the vehicle slowed and turned onto a gravel road. He could hear the crunch of gravel beneath the tires and the ride became bumpy. His swollen cheek bumped against the floor and Edward hissed in pain. The car stopped and the engine switched off. There was several clunks of shutting car doors and then a stir of air as the door near Edward opened. Someone grabbed his upper arms roughly and hauled him out of the vehicle. He stumbled and a blow landed sharply between the shoulder blades, and he heard harsh feminine laughter as he sprawled into the crushed stone. He twisted at the last instant so that he landed on his side instead of his face. That laugh was familiar, but his head ached to much to try to place it.

He was hauled back to his feet. "Move!" Edward tried, but he stumbled again and the brutal, bruising hand roughly jerked him upright. He heard a door open and his footsteps muffled as they landed on carpet. His guide yanked him to a halt and opened a door that had creaky hinges. "Downstairs." He was glad for that painful grip on his shoulder or he might have fallen again as he stumbled blindly down the stairs. Edward caught a whiff of mold. Into a basement, then.

At the bottom, she shoved him again and he fell, face-first, into something soft. She untied his hands and tugged the bag off his head. He sat up and looked around, wincing as the light from the single bare bulb above assaulted his eyes. The walls were gray cinder block and the floor was bare cement. In one corner stood a hot water heater and there was a brass drain in the center of the sloping cot he was sitting on was the only piece of furniture. There were small windows set into the walls at ground level, but there was nothing but blackness beyond. He wasn't sure if that was from the time of night or if they'd been covered.

"Hello, Edward."

Edward rolled over onto his back and gaped at her. "_Tanya_? What - why - " He took a deep breath and that's when he smelled it: the seductive, spicy scent of a vampire. She cupped his cheek in her hand and it felt cool and clammy. He suppressed a shudder with an effort.

"Just remember," she said, her voice surprisingly gentle. "You _made_ me do this."

He forced himself to count to five before he answered. "What do you mean? Tanya, what happened to you? You're - "

"A vampire? Yes. He said it was the only way to break the spell Bella has over you."

'_He' whom_?

She leaned toward Edward eagerly. The tiny wrinkles that she had acquired from years of visiting tanning beds before she discovered the spray-on type of tanning had vanished, but it still looked like she applied her makeup with a trowel. "Don't you see, Edward? I was willing to _die_ for you!"

"The Queen gave you permission?" Edward knew from what Rose had told him that Victoria required all candidates to meet with a member of the Volturi or Council for an interview and he couldn't imagine Tanya had managed to conceal her instability long enough to secure permission.

"That won't matter soon," Tanya said dismissively, but before he could ask her why, she changed the subject. "I even had to give up Noodles for you."

He eyed her warily. "You did?"

Tanya's lower lip protruded. "Dogs don't like vampires. She wouldn't stop barking at me. So, I had her put to sleep."

Edward had hated that little bug-eyed rat, the despoiler of Aubusson rugs, but he winced. "Why didn't you find her another home?"

Tanya shrugged. "She never would have been happy without me."

Edward had the distinct impression that the dog's death hadn't been to spare its feelings. He remembered that Tanya destroyed her discarded clothes rather than give them to charity, too. God, how had he ever tolerated that woman in his life?

"That's your fault," Tanya continued. "But it's okay. I'll forgive you. I have a cat now. Her name is Button. You'll probably see her at some point because she has the run of the house."

"I thought you were pregnant," he blurted.

"I was. I lost it." She sighed and dropped her eyes. Edward automatically tended toward compassion, but he reminded himself that she was the kind of person who would have an abortion and then claim she'd had a miscarriage to gain sympathy, if, indeed, she had ever been pregnant at all. "That's your fault, too. The doctor said it was probably because I was so stressed and heartbroken over what you did to me."

"I'm sorry," Edward said, and hoped he sounded sincere. God, his head hurt. "Who changed you, Tanya?"

She lifted her hand to study her inch-long finger nails, coated in shiny polish (though he couldn't discern the color, he'd bet that it was fire-engine red, her favorite) with airbrushed designs painted on them.

"Tanya, who -?"

She smiled. "Everything's gonna be okay now, Edward. You and I are going to be happy together again."

And that thought chilled his blood more than any threat he'd ever heard. He felt a strange prodding sensation in his mind as she clumsily pushed against his mental barriers, like a child pushing against a locked door. She frowned slightly and pushed a little harder. Edward forced his face to go slack and blank.

_You love me. You love me_.

"I love you," he said.

A delighted smile stretched her lips and she kissed him. Her cold lips were greasy with lipstick and her tongue was like a slug writhing into his mouth. He gagged, which he struggled to conceal.

"Tanya!" A voice from upstairs.

She drew back and sighed. "To be continued later, my love."

He smiled back mechanically and she trotted up the stairs, slamming the basement door behind her. Edward heard the clunk of a bolt lock being engaged from the other side and he scraped the back of his wrist across his mouth. A smear of lipstick streaked his skin. Edward gagged again and wiped it off on the corner of the pillowcase.

His mind made a few quick calculations as he studied the room. The windows were too small for him to fit through, so he'd have to escape through the door at the top of the stairs. The cot legs were made out of tubular aluminum, not suited as a weapon. His eyes followed the metal pipe that led from the hot water heater until he found a valve. _There.  
><em>

He slowly got to his feet, fighting a wave of dizziness that threatened to knock him down again. He staggered over to the hot water tank and clung to its side while he turned off the valve and set about trying to loosen the pipe.

* * *

><p>Jasper arrived less than an hour later, as Rose was reviewing the security tape for the third time. The quality was poor, and cop dramas to the contrary, enhancing a fuzzy image doesn't result in crystalline close-ups.<p>

Jasper carried a long flower box and a small briefcase. He sat them down on the counter, never taking his gaze from Alice, who pointedly ignored him.

"It wasn't easy, but I got what you asked for," he said.

"Thank you," Jacob replied, though the comment had been directed at Alice.

Jasper lifted the lid of the box and removed the layer of flowers that had covered the contents. One curved Japanese sword and one pump-action shotgun. Jacob handed the sword to Bella and she examined it critically.

"Lucky I know a guy who collects those," Jasper said. "It's not easy to find a real sword these days. Most of 'em are those cheap-shit flea market replicas."

Felix lingered by the doorway, his head down and his eyes glued to the floor. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

"For what?"

Felix looked up and his eyes were bright with tears. "I didn't see it. Not until ... after."

Bella made a soft sound of sympathy. "No one blame you."

Felix scrubbed a hand over his face. "It seems that I'm forever doomed to fail the people I love."

No one spoke for a moment.

"Who was it?" Jacob asked softly.

"My father's vampire. He was killed by Helsingers."

"By what?"

"Helsingers ... Named after van Helsing from _Dracula_. Vampire hunters. My father ... Well, 'devastated' doesn't adequately convey it. He was destroyed by it. I don't think my mother ever fully forgave me."

"You not fail," Bella said firmly. "You not know everyt'ing."

Felix smiled slightly. "Thank you, Mrs. Cullen."

"_Bella_," she corrected. "You family."

Felix nodded, his smile gentle. He gave Bella a small bow and exited the room.

Bella drew her sword from its sheath. "Like good. Not like surds my people use. Our_ khillaychuki_ are wood, sharp rocks in sides."

"Where did you learn to fight with a sword?" Jacob asked. He watched as Jasper drifted over to Alice's side. He spoke to her too quietly for Jacob to hear, but whatever it was drew Alice's eyes to Jasper, despite her determination to ignore him.

"My priests teach me." Bella rotated her wrist and the blade flashed through the air.

"Why?"

Bella sheathed the sword. "T'ere may be war. I learn fight 'side my people."

"They didn't have a problem with a woman going to war?"

Bella shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Everybody know women warriors meaner t'an men. Some nation not let women fight, but my people know women fight hard, keep children safe. Maybe other nation afraid give women surds. Give woman surd, she may use it."

"I've never seen women warriors in your art."

"You maybe not know t'ey women. T'ey look same in war clothes."

"That's cool," Alice remarked. "I thought those ancient cultures were always really sexist."

Jacob had forgotten she was in the room. "Thanks for helping us out, Allie. You should probably go on home now."

Alice shook her head. "I'm going with you to rescue Edward."

"No, you're not," Emmett said. He held a bag of frozen peas to his swollen cheek. "Alice, you got kids. This shit could get dangerous._ Real_ dangerous."

Alice tilted up her chin. "You can't stop me. I love Edward too, Emmett. God, he was around so much when we were kids, it was like he was one of my brothers. If he's in trouble, I'm gonna help."

"Me, too," Jasper said quietly.

Jacob suppressed a sigh. Maybe he could speak to Jasper privately later and give him the assignment of keeping Alice out of danger.

"No," Alice said coldly. "You've done your part, Jasper. We don't need you."

Jasper picked up one of her hands and held it firmly when she would have tugged it away. "Do you really think I'd let the woman I love go into danger without being at her side?"

"You don't love me," Alice spat.

Jasper kissed her. Not a hard, possessive kiss like Jacob would have expected, but a soft, gentle kiss of lingering sweetness. When he drew back, her lips were trembling and tears sparkled in her eyes. He whispered, "Do you really think I never loved you?"

Alice let out a shuddering sob. She hammered the side of her fist down onto his chest with an angry, anguished cry.

"I'm sorry. God, Allie, I'm so sorry. I made a mistake, a terrible mistake, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. But I love you and I always will."

Alice hit him again as tears streamed down over her cheeks and her body shook with the force of her sobs. "You don't! You don't!"

"I do."

Alice let out a little wail and buried her face in his chest. Jasper looked over at Jacob and silently mouthed, "Is there somewhere - ?"

Jacob nodded and pointed down the hall. He held up two fingers and pointed left to let him know which door to use. Edward's room. Jasper pulled Alice to her feet. "Come on, honey. We need to talk." He led her down the hall, the sound of Alice's sobs trailing after them.

"Got 'em!" Rose shouted suddenly.

Bella and Jacob exchanged a quick glance and dashed over to where Rose pecked on Edward's laptop.

"It took me a few tries to find a match because I had to guess at some of the numbers on the license plate," Rose explained. "But this is it. The van is registered to a rental agency."

Jacob frowned. "That's not very helpful. How many car rental places are there in this city?"

"Twelve, but only one of this particular chain and hacking into their database was a breeze. We've got a name, anyway. Paul Lahote."

Jacob gaped at her. "The homeless guy that Bella helped? That fucker."

Rose held up a hand. "Before you get pissed, he reported a mugging yesterday evening. I already checked into it. Said they got his wallet."

"Get him up here," Jacob said. "He may be able to describe them."

"Call Muvver," Bella added. "She help, too."

"Bella, maybe getting Esme involved isn't a good idea. She doesn't know -"

"She know," Bella interrupted. "I hear her talk to Veelks. She say, 'Bella vampire'."

Jacob's jaw dropped. "WHAT?" He was more surprised that Bella hadn't denied the title.

Bella nodded. "She say she know. She say she know Brady and Bella cold like Brady."

"Will the wonders never fucking cease?" Jacob muttered. "Yeah, I'll call her. That's going to be an interesting conversation_. 'Hello, Mrs. Cullen. Fine, thank you. Just wanted to let you know your only son has been abducted by vampires. Have a nice day!"_

"I'll call her," Emmett offered. "It's my responsibility, after all."

"It's not your fault, Emmett," Jacob said. "You were supposed to stand around and look intimidating to keep away people who might harass him, not protect him from kidnappers and things that go 'bump' in the night."

Emmett nodded, but Jacob could tell he didn't believe it. He left the room as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

Felix re-entered the room with Paul in tow, another example of him knowing what his employers would want without needing to be asked. Paul had a hangdog expression and the first thing he said was how sorry he was.

"It's not your fault." How many times was Jacob going to have to repeat that statement today? "Can you tell us anything about what your muggers looked like?"

"There was a man and a woman," Paul said. "I didn't get a good look at the woman, but the man was very tall with long brown hair, and had weird green eyes."

"Weird how?" Jacob asked, but he had a feeling that he already knew.

"Kind of _glowing_, like."

"Shinx," Bella hissed. "I _kill_ him."

"I couldn't tell the whole story to the cops," Paul said softly. "They probably would have tossed me in the drunk tank because it's ..."

Jacob urged him on when Paul's voice trailed off. "Trust me, we're used to weird shit. Tell us, please."

Paul took a deep breath. "I was in the park, taking a shortcut home from the convenience store. The green-eyed guy came up to me. He popped up out of nowhere, I swear. He asked me something; I can't remember what it was, but when I stopped ... God, I know how crazy this sounds, but I swear on my soul that it's true. Tree roots came up out of the ground and wound around my feet and legs, and the bushes beside the path grew around my arms. I couldn't move. He reached around and took my wallet from my pocket and walked away, and a few minutes after he left, the plants released me."

Bella nodded. "Leaf bringer magic."

"A what?"

"An elf," Jacob said. Both Alice and Paul let out simultaneous bursts of laughter, which quickly tapered off after they saw that Jacob wasn't joking.

"An elf," Paul repeated, incredulous. "Like in _Lord of the Rings_?"

"Yeah, something like that. Only this one is an asshole."

"I see ..." Paul said slowly, clearly thinking that he'd expected to be called crazy, not to find that the penthouse residents were crazy themselves.

"Paa," Bella said sharply and he looked over at her. Their gazes locked for a long moment and Paul's face became soft, his gaze distant and unfocused.

"You forget all t'is," Bella instructed.

"Yes, I'll forget," Paul agreed.

"You go home now."

"I'll go home now." Paul spun on his heel and marched out the door.

"Good information," Rose said crisply. "We've got a lead now."

"Do you think you can find him?"

Rose nodded. "I know some of his aliases, remember? I set them up. Give me a couple of hours, and I'll be able to track him down."

"Excellent."

"You and Bella had best get some rest," Rose advised. "I'll wake you when I find out anything."

"Thanks, Rose." Jacob wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep, but he saw the wisdom of her suggestion. Once they had an idea of where to start looking, who could say what they'd be up against?

He took a shower and dressed in a pair of athletic pants and a t-shirt, clothing that would be comfortable to sleep in, but was decent enough that he could run right out of the house if necessary. He found Bella sitting on the side of the bed when he emerged from the bathroom. "Hi, honey," he said, and when she looked up, he saw the pink tears pooled in her eyes. "You okay?"

"No," she whispered. "I_ not_ okay."

He sat down beside her and pulled her into a hug. "We'll get him back."

"What if not?"

"We will," Jacob said firmly. "They don't want to hurt him."

"No, t'ey want start war."

He kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, I think you're right." He held her while she cried and they fell asleep in a comforting embrace.

* * *

><p>Bella woke when Muvver knocked and opened the bedroom door. She jerked in surprise to see Bella lying in Shaykob's arms. Shaykob, who'd only been lightly dozing himself, woke with a start and scrambled out of the bed as he held out his hands as if to ward off an attack. "Uhh ... It's not what you think," he said lamely.<p>

Muvver didn't address that. "Bella, come out into the living room. I have something for you." She spun on her heel and retreated.

She was waiting when Bella emerged, her hair braided by Shaykob, wearing a pink sweatsuit that Shaykob had retrieved for her from Edwurr's room. Bella didn't think she could have stood to go into that room, even if it hadn't been occupied by Shasper and Ahlss, whom Shaykob reported were still deep in conversation. Surrounded by Edwurr's scent, surrounded by his things ... She wouldn't have been able to endure it in his absence.

They had to get him back. She couldn't even allow herself to consider any other possibility.

Muvver stood when Bella entered the room and held out a gun. Shaykob whistled in appreciation, so it must have been a nice one. Bella didn't understand why these single-hand small versions and the long, two-handed one that Shaykob had been given by Shasper were called by the same name, and she wasn't entirely sure what the objects did.

"Have you ever used one of these?" Muvver asked.

Bella shook her head.

"All right then. We'll go down to the basement. Security has a firing range down there. Jacob, you're welcome to come along."

Shaykob seemed surprised to be included, but he politely declined and went over to watch Rose as she typed on Edwurr's computer.

Bella followed Muvver into the moving room and they rode down in silence. The doors opened into a gray room that smelled of dampness and mildew. Muvver led Bella to a counter in front of a long hallway and gave Bella a strange hat that had two cups that rested over the ears with a band that crossed over the top of the head. They muffled the sound, but she could hear Muvver as she explained that the little, stumpy metal things were called 'bullets' and showed Bella how to insert them into the gun. She took a large sheet of paper from a drawer. On it was a dark human form with circles drawn inside it. Muvver attached it to a clip on a track and when she pushed a button, it slid away to the back of the room.

Bella watched as Muvver lifted the gun and hooked her finger around a curl of metal on the underside of the gun. She pulled the curl and the gun made a loud crack that made Bella jump a little. A bright flash of gold-colored metal spun into the air as the gun spat out the bullet, its top now missing. A hole appeared in the center of the smallest circle on the human outline each time she pulled the metal curl. She put the gun down and inserted more bullets. "Are you ready to try?"

"Yes." Bella picked up the gun. She aimed down the length of the barrel and matched up the sight as Muvver showed her. New holes appeared alongside the ones Muvver had made. She seemed very pleased and told Bella she was, "a good shot." Bella didn't know what the praise meant, but she was glad to have it.

When she laid the gun down, Muvver didn't put more bullets into it. Instead she turned to Bella, her expression uncertain. "There's ... There's something I need to say."

Bella nodded to encourage her to continue.

"I know what you are," Muvver said.

Bella nodded again. She knew that already.

"I didn't figure it out until after Edward's birthday party. There had been signs, but I never added it up." Muvver turned the plain gold band she wore on her left hand. "It explains much about your ... behavior. I understand now that you are from a different time and so you think differently." She met Bella's eyes, and her own were troubled. "If my son can accept that, so must I. But I meant what I said about what I would do if you ever hurt him."

"I never hurt Edwurr," Bella vowed. "I love Edwurr. And I get him back."

Muvver smoothed Bella's hair. "I know you will, my dear. And I know you'll make them pay for what they've done."

"T'at a _promise_," Bella said grimly.


	21. Chapter 21

.

~.~

Chapter Twenty-one

~.~

The van crept along the darkened street and slid into a parking spot a block or so away from their intended destination. Emmett turned the off the ignition and the engine coughed and sputtered as though struggling to stay alive. Jacob gritted his teeth. He didn't know why he'd let Emmett talk him into using their father's van instead of renting a vehicle. Even using Bella's new Bentley would have been a better option.

The engine finally fell silent. All of them sat there, quietly, for a long moment. Bella spoke up. "Ahlss, you stay here, guard car."

Alice opened her mouth to argue and Bella captured her gaze. That soft, dreamy expression of the bespelled settled over her features and Alice nodded. "I'll stay here," she agreed.

"Shasper, stay with Ahlss," Bella ordered and there was no need to overpower his mind to ensure his compliance. He readily agreed and put his arm around Alice's shoulders. She gave him a small, tentative smile, uncharacteristically shy.

Bella reached down and retrieved her sword from under the seat. "If anyone scared, you not have to go." She opened the door and climbed out. Her new boots seemed to glow under the light from the street lamps. She'd refused to wear any of the shoes in her closet because they were all made from "dead skin" and they'd had to make a quick stop at Walmart. Bella's feet were so small that they ended up having to shop in the children's section. Jacob had tried to gently dissuade Bella from her choice, but Bella had set her jaw stubbornly and said, "Want these!" And that's how the Dark Goddess ended up setting out on their rescue mission, wearing red rubber rain boots with a grinning red puppet with googly eyes on the toe.

Rose, who'd been waiting in the car for them, had to bite her lip when she caught sight of Bella's new footwear. "I should have known Bella's ass-kicking boots would have Elmo on them."

Jacob took his grandfather's hunting knife out of the protective case he stored it in and slipped it into a sheath on his belt. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Edward hid the pipe under the edge of his blanket before he lay down on the cot and closed his eyes. He tossed an arm up to cover them. He felt a little better after blocking out the light. He knew he had a concussion from his symptoms, but he had no way of knowing how bad it was. He doubted that Tanya would take him to a doctor in any case. If he was going to survive this, he had to get out of here as quickly as possible.<p>

The basement door opened and he heard the clack of heels on the stairs. "I'm back!" Tanya chirped.

_Oh, joy! _Edward thought sourly.

She peered down at him. "Hey, you don't look so good."

"A traumatic brain injury will do that for you," Edward muttered.

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Don't you watch TV? People get hit over the head all the time and they're _fine."_

He was tempted to explain that TV shows weren't always the best place to glean accurate medical information, but decided it was too much effort.

"You don't have amnesia, do you?" she asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

"Sorry, no. Listen, I need to go to the bathroom. I feel like I'm going to throw up."

She wrinkled her nose. "Ugh! Well, I'm not cleaning it up if you do. Come on." She grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet so abruptly that Edward's lie about vomiting almost became a reality. She turned to lead him up the stairs and he snatched up the pipe. He brought it down on the back of her head with all of his strength. She fell face-down with a small cry.

He bolted for the stairs and had almost made it to the top when she snarled and grabbed him by the arm. He lifted the pipe to bring it down again and she caught him by the wrist and twisted it cruelly until he lost his grip. The stairs had no rail; they were comprised of treads nailed in the center to a pair of two-by-fours. She threw him off the side of the staircase and he landed on his back on the concrete floor. His vision blanked out in a flash of blinding silver as his head cracked against the floor.

Tanya was atop Edward in a flash, moving with vampire speed. Fury blazed in her eyes and she backhanded him across the face, so hard that his nose crunched and a gush of blood spattered across the floor by his head. He felt it pour down the back of his throat and choked when he tried to inhale his next breath. Instinctively he tried to throw her aside so that he could turn over and clear his airway, before he drowned in his own blood, but he could not budge her. She had vampire strength as well as speed.

That's when he realized he was going to die, even before her eyes widened as the smell of blood hit her and her fangs extended like daggers. He could do nothing but gasp and choke at the burning agony as her teeth ripped into his throat. She didn't know what she was doing. She gnawed at him with those fangs, instead of using them to create a puncture and then withdraw. The pain was excruciating. Either she didn't yet have the pleasure-inducing drug in her saliva, or she _meant_ for it to hurt.

He knew he wasn't strong enough to fight her off, but his body tried anyway, as though on auto-pilot, a deep-seated survival instinct that wouldn't let him stop until his limbs lost their strength and fell limply to his sides.

_Bella_, he thought. Her image flashed through his mind ... The first time he had seen her, so pale and perfect in her sarcophagus, the look in her eyes when she first told him she loved him, the mischievous light in her eyes before she jumped into the swimming pool ... _I love you. I love you ..._

"_TANYA_!" a male voice screamed. Edward moved his gaze with an effort to the top of the stairs and saw a man he'd never seen before, a tall man with dark hair and eyes, his face paper-white and twisted in anger. He rushed down the stairs and kicked Tanya, hard, in the ribs. She went sprawling.

"Oh, fuck! Fuck!" the man shouted. He stared at Edward in dismay.

Tanya pushed herself up off the floor. Blood coated the bottom half of her face and ran down her neck to stain the front of her shirt with a red bib. She looked surprised to find herself there. "Edward? Oh no!"

"What did I tell you?" the man shouted. "I told you to stay away from him. You don't have the control over your bloodlust yet!"

Their voices came from a distance. Edward's vision was dimming. He was cold, but lacked the strength to shiver. _Bella ..._

"We can still save him!" Tanya crawled over to Edward. He closed his eyes, but she hit him again. "Stay with me!" she shouted. But he could barely see. Dark spots were crowding out his vision. Something cool and wet and metallic was crammed into his mouth. He grimaced at the taste and tried to turn his head, but he didn't have the strength. Even drawing another breath was too much ...

_Bella ..._

_Bella ...  
><em>

_ ... I love you ..._

* * *

><p>The house was a small, one-story brick ranch with a large picture window in the living room. It had a tiny square patio in front of the door, one step up from the sidewalk, which was bordered by holly bushes. Not exactly the kind of place Jacob would have expected an elf and his millionaire boyfriend to reside. He didn't know what he'd been expecting: a tree house or a Hobbit burrow or something. Not blue collar suburbia.<p>

"What kind of game is Jinx playing?," Rose mused as she stuffed her blonde hair up into a knit cap. "He made _sure_ that Paul saw him. He could have knocked him out and taken what he wanted if it was just the license he was after. But he wanted Paul to get a good look at him, fully aware we'd know exactly whom Paul was describing. And he knew I'd be able to track him down to this address."

"He wanted us to know we're walking into a trap," Nessa said. Jacob glanced over at her and saw that Nessa had tugged a cap of her own down over her curls. She actually looked kind of cute wearing it, an observation Jacob almost blurted out before thinking the better of it. Her face was pale, but the tilt of her chin showed determination.

"You sure you're up for this?" Jacob asked her. His eyes flicked to the cast on her foot.

"Absolutely," Nessa said, and Jacob could help but feel admiration for her. Admiration and gratitude. This wasn't her fight, after all. She had no reason to risk her neck for Edward. As he gazed at her, his mind wandered back to what Bella had said about the women warriors of her people. He could picture Nessa in battle armor, carrying a spear and shield, her eyes hot and fierce as she charged toward the enemy.

He shook his head a little to clear it and checked his watch. Nearly midnight.

"Showtime, honey," he said to Bella and she nodded. She lifted her hands and the breeze began to swirl, lifting dust from the nearby lawns to carry to the sky. Dark clouds roiled in to hide the moon and plunge the street into deeper darkness.

"That should do it."

Bella dropped her hands and the wind fell still, leaving the heavy, lowering clouds to hover above. Rose opened the passenger door and propped her crossbow on the top of the window frame. She took careful aim and fired an arrow. The street lamp shattered and a small shower of sparks fell. With a small smile of satisfaction, Rose slung the crossbow over her back. No one would see them now if they happened to look out their window, which fortunate because all of them dressed in black with knit caps, and the mini arsenal each carried, pretty much shouted that they were up to no good.

Emmett led the way, tiptoeing down the sidewalk at the head of their little group. Something occurred to Jacob: "Psst, Emmett! Are you still on probation?"

Emmett paused. "Probably."

"You don't _know?"_

Emmett shuffled his feet and gave his brother a sheepish smile. "Not really. I mean, I meet up with my probation officer at least once a month for lunch, because we're friends, but I don't know if that means I'm still officially - "

Jacob sighed and motioned them forward. He supposed if they got caught, going back to jail was the least of Emmett's worries.

They approached the door of Jinx's house. Rose slipped through the shrubbery beneath the picture window and peeked inside. She held up her hand, index finger and thumb forming a "0" to show that she saw no one inside. Jacob nodded. He gestured for Bella, Nessa and Emmett to step to the side. He cocked his shotgun and then gave the front door a brutally hard kick next to the doorknob. The thin wood splintered around the knob and swung open. Jacob stepped forward ... right as the door hit the stopper on the wall and bounced back, connecting painfully with his nose.

Rose snickered and Jacob gave her the finger as he cupped his injured schnozz with the other hand.

They all followed Jacob (who was still rubbing his nose and cursing under his breath) into the living room. Bella pushed her way to the front of the group, her sword drawn, her eyes darting around swiftly as she took in their surroundings. The place was a "kountry" nightmare of powder blue and teddy bears, with antiqued American flag motifs on just about every flat surface. The sofa was blue and beige plaid and it stood next to a wood magazine rack with heart-shaped handles. Rose looked horrified.

"Are you _sure_ Jinx lives here?" Emmett whispered. "It looks like Martha Stewart's personal version of hell."

Bella silently crept toward the kitchen and narrowly missed being hit by a crowbar swung at her head. She ducked and spun at the same time, lashing out with her foot to catch the man behind his knee. His legs crumpled and he fell down to the floor. She heard pounding feet as Jinx rushed into the room and a word shouted in Elvish.

The windows burst in a spray of glass and tree roots exploded up through the floor. The roots swayed like pallid snakes as they sought a target. Whatever they touched, they wrapped around tightly and Jacob blanched when he saw two of them rip apart a bar stool. Bella hacked at them with her sword and Jacob tried blasting them with his shotgun, but the roots didn't seem to notice the injury.

Nessa gave a little scream and swung her crutch at them to no avail. She pulled a small handgun from her belt, but a root wrapped around her wrist with crushing pressure and it clattered from her hand to the kitchen floor. One of the roots wound its way around her neck and jerked her down. Red-faced and gasping, she reached for the gun, only to find it an inch or so out of reach. Bella spun again and brought her sword down on the root around Nessa's neck, chopping it neatly in half. Nessa pulled the severed end off her neck, coughing out a thanks.

The man with the crowbar had scooted back across the floor to sit with his back against the counter under the sink. He watched as Bella hacked and slashed at the roots, while Jacob sawed at them with his grandfather's hunting knife. Rose let out a cry as both of her arms were captured by roots and one of the branches swung to hit her across the side of the head. The blow split the skin of her temple and blood dribbled down over her cheek.

"ROSE!" Emmett bellowed and tried to run to her. A root tripped him and he sprawled on the floor, kicking at the pale thing wrapping its way around his ankle.

The shotgun was wrenched from Jacob's hands and he heard the clatter of Bella's sword hit the ground as the roots wrapped around their limbs, too many to fight off.

The elf whispered a word of magic and the roots froze, quivering slightly as they awaited further instructions.

"Shinx," Bella spat.

"My apologies, Goddess, but I couldn't allow you to kill my boyfriend." Jinx's strange green eyes glowed in the dim light of the kitchen.

"Brady," Rose said, glaring at the man who sat with his back to the cabinet doors. "What the fuck are you doing here, anyway?"

"I'm helping Jinx, obviously." Brady got to his feet and took Jinx's hand in his own. "I think you can tell the tree to release them now."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Jinx said. "Not yet. Not until we've gone."

Bella glanced down at her sword. A look of confusion flitted over her features and she seemed to concentrate, though nothing happened.

"Didn't Jinx tell you?" Brady asked pleasantly. "I'm a null."

"A what?" Emmett asked.

"A null. I nullify the powers of those around me. Except for Jinx, of course, but it took a while before I could learn how to turn it off at will."

"Why are you doing this?" Rose demanded. "What the hell is your angle?"

"I'm doing it because _someone_ has to," Jinx said. "Someone has to make sure that fate plays out as it is supposed to."

"What fate?" Jacob demanded. "Can you just give a straight answer, for once?"

Jinx nodded in Bella's direction. "That one is meant to rule the world, rule over humans, vampires and fae alike. She will restore the Balance. She will make world what it should be once more. And if she will not do this willingly, I must force her hand. I will make winning the war her only option for survival."

"What war?" Nessa demanded.

Jinx smiled at her, a gentle, pitying smile. "The war I have created. By the end of the evening, Bella will have signed her own death warrant and she will have no choice but to fight the Queen and the Volturi if she doesn't want to be destroyed. I have only had to nudge fate in the proper direction, for all of this was meant to be."

"Shinx," Bella said.

"Goddess?"

She nodded toward her friends. "Tell them what happen when we break promise to fae."

Jinx frowned slightly, but he complied. "Promises made to the fae are binding. If you break it, you die."

She met his eyes squarely. "I swear I kill you, Shinx. You die screaming, I promise."

A gust of breeze passed through the kitchen. Jinx was startled and unsettled by Bella's words. He regained his composure and bowed. "If I must sacrifice my life to restore the balance, so be it."

There was a soft gasp and all of the heads in the kitchen turned to see who had made the sound. Tanya stood in a doorway, blood caked on her skin and blouse. Bella's nostrils flared as she took in the scent and she let out a long, low cry of anguish. Jacob felt it like a punch to the solar plexus; there was only one thing that could have wrenched such a sound from her.

_No, oh God, please, no ..._

With a surge of tremendous strength and power, Bella broke free from the roots and sprang toward Tanya. She plowed into the other woman and they fell back into darkness. Jacob heard descending thuds and loud cracks as they tumbled down a staircase.

"We've got to go ... _now_," Brady said to Jinx urgently, and he and Jinx bolted for the door. Seconds later, the roots released them and Jacob ran for the basement stairs, slapping the wall around the doorway to find a light switch. He was glad he had; some of the stairs had been broken when Bella and Tanya fell down them and he probably would have fallen through and snapped a leg at the very least. Emmett ran after Jinx and Brady, but that barely registered on the periphery of Jacob's mind.

He ran down the stairs, jumping over the broken treads. Bella and Tanya were fighting at the bottom. Bella was on top of, her knees pinning Tanya's arms to the concrete floor and she was beating the ever-loving shit out of Edward's ex-fiance while the woman screamed and pleaded. Rose hurried down the stairs behind Jacob, holding Bella's sword in one hand, a pistol in the other, prepared to intervene if necessary.

Jacob paid them little heed. He walked over and knelt down next to Edward's body.

_No._

_No._

Jacob felt for a pulse, though he knew he wouldn't find one. The side of Edward's throat looked like it had been hit with a chainsaw and he lay, silent and still, in a pool of congealing blood. His green eyes had already dulled and stared sightlessly at the ceiling. His lips were gray-blue, his skin blanched and ashen. Jacob gently brushed his thumbs over Edward's eyelids to close them. He lifted Edward's shoulders from the floor and his head fell back limply, widening that terrible gash. Jacob slipped an arm beneath his neck to support his head.

Jacob stared down into the face of the man who had been his best friend, his _brother. _For a moment, he saw in his mind's eye that silent little boy that had finally trusted him enough to offer him a cookie from his lunch box. That same little boy, so shy that it was painful for him to speak to strangers, had helped Jacob go door-to-door in the neighborhood that summer when Jacob's cat went missing. He saw Edward in their college apartment, standing on the back of the sofa, feverishly writing on the wall with a Sharpie, trying to get the numbers out of his head before his mind drifted to something else and he forgot, but still so shy that he needed Jacob to take his completed paper to the head of the physics department. And then the moment when he had looked into Edward's eyes and had seen that Edward loved Bella and there would now be a second person who shared Edward's life._  
><em>

There was a horrible, rending pain in his chest and Jacob heard someone sob. It was a moment before he realized the sound had come from himself, and that the tears that splashed onto Edward's cheeks were his own.

"Edward, please - " he choked. He glanced up, as though looking for help. Bella had ripped Tanya to shreds. Literally. As he watched, she took Tanya's head in her hands and savagely tore it from her body, flinging it to the side with a last, wrenching cry of grief. Bella stood, trembling, soaked in blood. She stumbled over to them and sank to her knees beside Jacob and Edward. Her shaking hands cupped his cheeks, wiped away Jacob's tears, leaving smears of blood in their wake. She tried to wipe them away, but only smeared more onto his skin. She gave a little moan of distress and Jacob laid a hand on her shoulder to still her. She looked up at him, helpless in her anguish.

Jacob took off his t-shirt. The front of it was bloody, but the back was clean. He used it to gently clean Edward's face for her. Bella sank to the ground and laid her head on Edward's motionless chest. Too grief-stricken to cry, all she could do was curl up against Edward and stare blankly at him.

"Jacob," Nessa said. She repeated it and he realized she had been repeating it for some time now. He dragged his eyes away from Edward and Bella and looked up at her. Nessa's eyes shimmered with tears and he wondered why.

"Jacob, we need to go now," Nessa said. "Someone may have heard the shots ..."

He looked back at Edward.

"Jake." Nessa crouched down beside him. "You can't do anything for him now."

He knew that was true, but he couldn't go. Not just yet. Soon, the police would come and they would take Edward to the morgue and from there to the funeral home. Jacob closed his eyes.

_No._

Edward on a metal slab in a drawer. In a coffin ...

He let out another sob and Nessa threw her arms around him. "Oh, Jake ... Jake, I'm so sorry." He let her hold him and was surprised that he did find it comforting. His mind cleared a little and he glanced up to see Rose sobbing against Emmett's chest and Emmett with tears streaming unchecked down his face.

He looked back down at Bella. He took her shoulders gently in his hands. "Honey, they're right. We have to go."

"No," Bella said.

He tried to lift her and Bella slapped his hands away. "Go. Leave."

"Not without you, honey. Edward -"

She gave a soft, keening moan at the sound of the name.

"Edward would want me to take care of you." Jacob's voice didn't sound like his own.

"No," she whispered, and he knew it wasn't a denial of what he had said. "No. No._ No-no-no_!" She was screaming by the last word and the dam holding back her tears broke. Her sobs were horrible, sounds of soul-deep agony. Jacob sobbed with her, pulling her into his arms as they wept.

The storm passed, as all storms must. Emmett helped them to their feet, and they all walked toward the stairs, their arms clutched around one another for support. There was a pile of ash at the the bottom of the stairs, all that was left of Tanya. Jacob spit at it, a childish gesture which eased a little of the burning hate in his heart.

"I'm glad you killed her," Jacob said bitterly. "I only wished you would have stretched it out a little longer."

They started up the stairs, but Bella couldn't do it. She wrenched herself free and ran back to Edward's body, sobbing. Jacob gestured to the others to continue and turned back.

"Jake?" Nessa said.

He shook his head. "Go on without us, Nessa. Bella will find our own way home, all right?"

She didn't believe him. Jake gave her a small smile. Smart girl. "Jake ... What are you going to do?"

"Dunno. Suppose I'll find out when I do it." He surprised himself by leaning in to press a quick kiss to her lips. "Go on, now."

Nessa shook her head. "No ... I'm staying, too. I won't bother you, I promise. But I won't leave you here."

Jacob met Emmett's eyes over Nessa's head. Emmett nodded. He put an arm around Rose's shoulders and they headed slowly up the stairs. Nessa sat down on the last step, beside the pile of Tanya's ashes.

Jacob walked slowly back over to Bella. She had pulled Edward's head and shoulders into her lap and she gently stroked his hair back from his forehead. Jacob noticed at Edward's socks didn't match and it made him chuckle even as tears welled in his eyes again. He sat down beside Bella and she laid her head against his shoulder.

"Shaykob, what do?" Bella asked.

"I dunno, honey. I really don't."

She was crying again. Tears dripped onto his chest.

The cops never came. Either no one had heard the shots, or no one had cared to report them. In the wee hours of the morning, Jacob finally had Bella talked into going home. She fought. She cried. She even hit him once, but she finally acquiesced. She bent down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Edward's lips and let Jacob draw her to her feet. It was harder for her to let go of his hand. She laid it on his chest and brushed his hair back from his forehead one last time. "Love you, Edwurr," she said.

Edward opened his eyes.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I've gotten a lot of questions about Edward's change/how vampires "work" in my 'verse. I've posted them in my "Dark Goddess Q & A" section on my blog: lissa bryan (one word) DOT blog spot (one word) DOT com.

* * *

><p>.<p>

~.~

Chapter Twenty-two

~.~

Edward opened his eyes.

For a moment, he couldn't understand what he was seeing. The faces above him looked ... different. He couldn't understand why their skin looked the way it did.

And then he realized that he was seeing color for the first time in his life.

He inhaled in a gasp and the most incredible scent he'd ever encountered caused his gut to clench in hunger. _The man_. The man was the source of the scent, and his eyes zeroed in on the vein pulsing beneath his skin. _There!_

In a flash, Edward grabbed the man and went for his throat. The woman screamed and tackled Edward to the ground, wrenching him away from his prey. He fought her even as a distant voice in his rational mind cautioned him not to hurt her because she was ...

_Bella._

He fell still.

_Jacob._ That was_ Jacob_ he was trying to attack. Horror shocked him, like being doused with a bucket of ice water.

"Shaykob, take Nessa, go up!" Bella said, her voice sharpened with urgency.

"Bella?" Jacob looked as stunned as Edward felt.

"Go!" she shouted.

Jacob ran for the stairs and grabbed Nessa's arm. He hauled her up after him and didn't stop until they were in the living room. Edward could hear them just as clearly as though they were only a foot away.

"What the hell?" Nessa cried. "What just happened?"

It sounded as though Jacob had dropped down on a sofa or recliner. Edward heard the rustle of cloth and the creak of springs. "Edward ... Edward is a vampire."

Edward looked at Bella for confirmation. His brow wrinkled in confusion. He couldn't understand it. The last thing he remembered ...

_Tanya._

His hand flew to the side of his neck and his fingers found a horrific wound. He should be bleeding. He should be ...

"Dead," he whispered. "I'm dead ... aren't I?"

Bella cupped his cheek as she spoke in Quechua. Her soft, cool fingers caressed his skin and he nuzzled his lips into her palm. "You are like me. In my time, I would have called you a god, but now I must use the term I have had to accept: _vampire_."

"How did this happen?" Edward asked, but even as the words left him, he knew. He remembered that cold, metallic taste in his mouth. Tanya's blood. She had changed him before he died. She'd pressed her bleeding wrist to his lips and he had choked -

"Where is she?" he said, and his words came out as a growl.

Bella's voice was unsteady and pink tears welled in her eyes. "I killed her. I killed her for what she did to you. I thought you were dead. Shaykob and I ... We thought you were ... gone."

He opened his mouth to apologize, but the only thing that emerged was a groan as a horrible cramp hit his abdomen. He doubled over from the pain.

Bella's eyes were compassionate. "I'm sorry, Edwurr, but you are about to be very sick. Come with me." She helped him to his feet and supported him as she led him upstairs to the bathroom. They passed Nessa and Jacob in the living room, but Edward was only dimly aware of their presence.

"I wish I could take the pain and bear it for you," Bella said when he groaned again from another agonizing cramp. "Or command your mind as I would a human, but I no longer have that power over you. The only comfort I can offer is that it will pass soon, and give you the promise that you will never be ill again."

He was too sick to be embarrassed, too miserable to even be alarmed at the blood and bits of tissue his body expelled as his now-unnecessary organs liquified and new ones grew in their place. His body shed the toxins and waste of his human life, even the teeth he no longer needed, replaced by those he did.

After it was finally over, Bella turned on the shower. He eagerly stepped under its spray, disgusted by the scents that clung to his skin, but he staggered back quickly, so fast that he slipped and ripped down the shower curtain and fell, still trying to block the stinging needles of the water. Bella darted forward to help him to his feet. "I'm sorry," he blurted.

"It's okay," she assured him. "Your skin is going to be sensitive for a while. I should have warned you. But it's been so long ..." She frowned as a thought occurred to her and opened the bathroom door.

"Shaykob?" she called in English. "Can you get Edwurr clothes? Must be new."

"I'll go," Nessa offered. "Walmart isn't far from here. Just a t-shirt and jeans?"

"Soft clothes," Bella told her. "Remember, must be _new. _Wrapped in plastic, not touched."

Edward forced himself under the spray with a wince. He scrubbed quickly, and gaped as his body hair rinsed away. It made sense, he supposed, since Bella had no body hair, but it still came as a surprise to see it all gathering on the drain screen. It looked like a gerbil had drowned in the tub.

The smell of the soap was nearly as repulsive as the human scents lingering on his skin. "How do you stand this?" he asked Bella. "Everything _reeks_."

"You'll get used to it," she promised, and he supposed it was like the new colors that seemed to scorch his eyes with their brightness. In time, his mind would learn to accept them and they would fade into the background. "You don't have to breathe, Edwurr. Only to talk."

The idea was startling. He took an automatic deep breath in preparation for holding it, and that faint, luscious scent hit his stomach again. His fangs lengthened and he groaned softly.

"Soon," she promised.

"I almost attacked Jacob." Shame made his voice low and rough.

Bella nodded. "It's difficult to keep control at first. But don't worry, I'll help you. I won't let you hurt anyone, Edwurr."

He saw a ghost of pain in her eyes. "Did you ... hurt someone?"

She looked away. "My priests expected it. They brought me condemned criminals, captured enemy prisoners ... people who would not be missed if the Goddess 'required a sacrifice,' as they called it. But I hated it. I hated taking lives just to sate my hunger and I learned to control myself as soon as I could."

Edward ducked his head back under the spray to rinse. "I can't believe I tried to hurt Jacob."

"You had just woken," Bella said loyally. "You were confused."

"How long was I ... ?" He didn't want to use the word "dead" again, but it seemed the only word that was fitting.

Bella shook her head. "I don't know. A few hours, maybe."

There was the sound of a door being opened and the rustle of a plastic bag. Nessa tapped on the door and handed the bag through the small gap to Bella. Inside was a plastic three-pack of colored t-shirts, a pack of underwear and a pair of athletic pants. They smelled faintly of the hands that had sewn them, but he could tolerate it. He smiled to himself as he dressed; for the first time in his life, he knew what color his socks were.

He looked into the mirror and saw the gaping wound on the side of his neck. He flinched at the sight of it. It didn't hurt, not even when he gently prodded at it with his fingers, but it looked awful.

"It will heal after your first feeding," Bella assured him. "You won't even have a scar."

His gut clenched with hunger at the thought of feeding, but he ignored it and studied his reflection. He saw, also for the first time, the color of his eyes, the shade of his unruly hair. "Your eyes are a lighter green than they were ... before," Bella noted.

"Is that normal?"

She nodded. "They'll fade even more over time. Mine used to be nearly black."

He turned and gazed into their warm, soft depths. He loved the color immediately. "They're beautiful," he said. He took a lock of her hair and examined it between his fingers. Dark with glints of other colors. He realized that he'd have to start learning to match the colors up to their names. He chuckled as he thought that he probably ought to start watching _Sesame Street_ with Bella.

Edward reached out and grasped the glass doorknob, only to feel it shatter under his hand. It pattered to the carpet as little pebbles. Another thing he'd have to learn, apparently: to control his strength. Bella giggled and slipped her hand into his and opened the door, using the little metal stem that was all that was left of the knob.

He and Bella emerged from the bathroom, hand-in-hand. Nessa and Jacob were seated on the sofa, and Jacob jumped to his feet as soon as he saw Edward. "Hey, buddy," he rasped. His eyes were red, Edward noticed and his heart - or whatever it was he had in there now - ached for his friend. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I'm sorry you had to go through that. And I'm really sorry I tried to turn you into a human Slurpee."

Jacob stepped forward and paused. "I ... uh .. I'd really like to give you a hug right now."

"That might not be a good idea," Nessa cautioned. Edward recoiled a little from her dayman stench as she approached.

"I can handle a hug," Edward said. Especially with that smell blotting out anything appetizing.

Jacob threw his arms around Edward and shuddered. "I thought we'd lost you," he said.

Edward didn't reply. He didn't want to inhale with Jacob's throat so nearby. He drew back and noticed that Bella was hovering close nearby, her eyes sharp and watchful. He didn't blame her. He appreciated it, actually. Looking out for Jacob ... Looking out for Edward, making sure he didn't do anything he would regret.

"I got you some bottled blood," Nessa announced. She lifted a paper bag to the top of the coffee table and withdrew two glass bottles, each wrapped in a sheet of newspaper to keep them from clanking together. They looked like ordinary wine bottles to Edward, their contents concealed behind dark green glass.

"Where did you get that?" Jacob asked.

"There's a vampire's blood bar just a couple of blocks away," Nessa explained. "I did a search on my iPhone while I was driving to Walmart."

Jacob chuckled. "Don't tell me there's an app for that."

Nessa smiled. "There is, actually." She unscrewed the cap off one of the bottles. "Do you want me to warm it up for you?"

Edward blinked. "I don't know."

She held out the bottle. "Try it and if you don't like it cold, I'll warm up the next one for you."

Edward took the bottle from her and inhaled to thank her and when he did, the scent of blood punched into him. He greedily gulped down the bottle's contents, uncaring that it was cold. The taste ... He'd expected to be disgusted by it, but it didn't taste the same way that it had when he was a human. It was the nectar of the gods, the most delicious thing he'd ever consumed. He couldn't compare it to human food (which seemed a little disgusting to him now) for the flavor was completely unique, something he had never encountered. It was sweet and salty and rich and he couldn't get enough of it.

He dropped the empty bottle. "More," he rasped, and remembered his manners only with supreme effort. "... _Please_."

Nessa simply held out the second bottle and he ripped away the cap rather than take the time to unscrew it. He guzzled it down eagerly. It tasted differently than the first, but was every bit as enjoyable.

"Holy Jesus," Jacob whispered. He was staring at Edward's neck. Edward reached up to touch it and found smooth, unmarred skin. He opened his mouth to say something when a black streak crossed the room to slide under the sofa and made him forget his words.

"I tot I saw a puddy tat," Jacob said in surprise.

Edward lifted the edge of the sofa, a little harder than he had intended since it flew across the room to crash into the doorway of the kitchen. Beneath it was a handful of peanuts, several appallingly large dust bunnies, and one very startled black cat.

"_Mrow_?"

Edward set the empty bottle on the coffee table and bent to pick it up. He was careful to simply scoop the cat up on the palm of his hand, afraid if he gripped it, he would crush the cat's ribs. The cat's green-gold eyes bored into his own, eerily sentient. Edward was surprised with the connection, the _recognition_, that he felt.

"Little panther!" Bella said in English. She had seen them on television, but had never encountered a house cat in the real world. She reached out and stroked the cat's velvety soft ears. It purred and butted her hand with its triangular head.

"Cat," Jacob corrected. "Where did it come from?"

"It was Tanya's cat," Edward told him.

"Ugh. The poor creature has suffered enough." Jacob scratched under the cat's chin and it purred louder. "We'd better take it with us, since Jinx and Brady are gone."

"I don't think Felix likes house pets," Edward said.

"You only say that because he tried to put Noodles in the neighbor's moving van that one time."

Edward and Jacob laughed at the memory and then fell abruptly silent as it occurred to both that they had very nearly lost the chance for moments like these. Jacob blinked hard to push back tears and all Edward could do was pull him into another hug.

* * *

><p>Nessa pointed out that they were coming perilously close to dawn and so they elected to stay for the day in Jinx's house, as distasteful as everyone found the prospect. Jacob called Emmett and Rose to tell them where they were, so they wouldn't worry, and give them the good news about Edward. Emmett had burst into loud sobs of joy and Rose refused to believe it until she spoke to Edward herself. "I'm only <em>mostly<em> dead," he assured her and she laughed even as she wept.

Edward and Bella took the fold-out futon in the small guest room while Jacob and Nessa shared the sofa bed. None of them would even consider using Jinx and Brady's room, including the cat, who curled up at the foot of Edward and Bella's bed.

Jacob had found a sleeping bag in one of the bedroom closets and zipped himself inside, like a bundling bag, after building a prim pillow wall down the center of the bed, something that seemed to amuse Nessa. All of them fell asleep as soon as their exhausted bodies hit the mattresses and none woke before sunset the next evening.

Shortly after dark, Emmett came by to pick up Jacob and Nessa and their new cat while Edward and Bella declared that they would find their own way home. Bella was eager to show Edward the world of the night, as he had never seen it before. And stepping out onto the street, he was astonished. It didn't seem to be dark at all, to him. To his vampire eyes, it was as bright as day, even with the broken street light. Even the colors were crisp and clear. He could hear every sound: the tiny tapping feet of the lightning bug as it crawled up the lamp post, the rustling of a raccoon as it crept through the underbrush, the sounds of TVs, arguments, sex and conversation from the houses along the street.

Edward walked beside Bella down the sidewalk. His feet were bare; he understood now her objection to the smell of "dead skin" and his leather loafers had been abandoned. And speaking of smells ... He sniffed the air and caught another whiff of smoke. He turned back to see flames dancing merrily up the curtains in Jinx's living room. Bella arched a brow at him and he laughed.

"Run with me," she urged, and they took off, moving so fast that human eyes could not track them. The night was their playground, their empire. When they reached the city, Bella showed him how high they could jump by leaping to the top of a truck, and from there, to the roof of a nearby building. He laughed in sheer exhilaration when he tried it. He'd never been athletic, always the last kid picked for a kickball team in gym class, never able to climb the rope or do as many push-ups as the other boys, but now his body obeyed his every whim. He scaled a brick wall like Spiderman, moving so fast he needed barely any contact to drive his way upward. He chased Bella from rooftop to rooftop. Her giggle floated back to him on the breeze as they dared each other to go faster, higher, further. He caught her around the waist and spun her around against a brick chimney and pinned her there, the laughter vanishing from his eyes as it was replaced with sudden heat.

"Don't move," he whispered. He took his hands from her hips and she sprung away from him without warning. Poised on the edge of a rooftop, she gave him a smirk. She spread her arms and dove off backwards. He dashed to the edge to see her tuck her legs and spin, landing lightly on her feet at the bottom. She blew him a kiss. "Catch me, if you can!" she called to him.

He jumped off after her, his landing a little less graceful for lack of practice, but he took off after her in a sprint, following the faint, spicy scent trail she left in her wake. He turned a corner to cut her off at the end of an alley and froze a few feet from a hooker. She wore a tight, stained mini-dress with bright pink platform heels and she had propped one of them back against the wall while she smoked a cigarette. "Hey, baby," she said easily. "You lookin' for a good time?"

Edward didn't answer. Even from this distance, he could see the light flutter of her pulse against the side of her neck. He was mesmerized by it. He took a slow step forward, and then another.

"Edwurr." Bella's quiet voice broke his trance. He faltered and would have blushed, if that was possible any longer.

"You can," Bella said in Quechua. "Go ahead. I'll help you. You won't hurt her."

Edward answered in English. "I - I don't know what to do."

The hooker laughed. "I'll show you, honey!"

"It's all right," Bella told him, ignoring the woman. "Your instincts will guide you. Catch her eyes with your own. Look into them, deeply, and tell her that she won't feel any pain, and she won't remember this."

"She'll do whatever I say?"

Bella nodded. "Anything."

Edward stared into the woman's bleary eyes and the cigarette fell, unheeded, from between her fingers. Her face went slack. "This won't hurt," he told her. "And you won't remember it."

She repeated his statements. Edward tilted her head slightly. The pulsing vein drew him like a tractor beam. He lowered his head as his fangs lengthened.

"Gently," Bella coaxed. "Just puncture. You don't have to bite hard."

It made him wince, thinking of Tanya's gnawing on the side of his throat. He carefully pressed his fangs to the woman's skin. With a soft _pop_, the skin broke beneath the points and ecstasy flooded his mouth. He drank eagerly, fighting the temptation to bite down again to open the wound wider to allow more of the precious fluid to flood his mouth. The woman arched and tried to rub her body against Edward's as the pleasure sang through her veins. He deftly sidestepped.

"Edwurr."

He dropped his head back and groaned. "What, Bella?"

"That's enough," she said firmly. "You can't take more or you'll weaken her. If you're still hungry, we'll find another for you, but you must let her go now."

His instincts were to snarl and clutch at his meal, prevent it from being taken from him, and for a moment, that feral creature that now shared his body almost won out. He shoved the woman away and leaned against the wall. He pressed his forehead to the cool brick.

"Here, for you," Bella said in English. She handed the woman a wad of bills from her purse.

Edward turned back to the woman to finish the instructions he had wanted to give her. "You're going to go back to school," he said. "You're going to get out of this life, because you deserve better. And if you need help, you'll call this number." He recited his cell phone number to her, and the woman repeated it obediently.

"You won't forget it," he insisted.

"No, I won't forget."

"Good. Take ... take care of yourself."

He took Bella's arm and they left the alley, crossing the street into a nearby park.

"That was very kind of you," Bella said, her eyes soft and luminous.

"I felt I owed her more than money. I could have hurt her."

Bella shook her head. "I wouldn't have let that happen," she promised. She reached up to cup his cheek. "Let's go home."

His eyes filled with heat again and he snatched her up from the sidewalk and ran as fast as he could for the Masen International Building.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry," Edward whispered, as he woke Bella for the fifth time.<p>

She smiled sleepily and opened her arms for them, though her body had to be sore by now. He felt guilty for pestering her like a horny teenager, but he hadn't been this horny even when he _was_ a teenager. "I don't mind," she said in Quechua.

He growled softly and pinned her wrists to the pillow beside her head. Along with his libido, his urge to dominate had increased as well, but Bella seemed to revel in it. She tilted her head to the side to give him access to her throat, though that probably had to be sore, too, from the number of times he'd bitten her this evening. Her blood wouldn't nourish him, but it fulfilled a deeper, erotic hunger that he had acquired with his change.

He was careful with her this time, oh so very gentle as he moved his body over hers. But he couldn't stop. He was addicted to the pleasure, a hundred times more intense now that he was a vampire. Every sensation was magnified, every sense heightened. Male vampires were not tied to a sole orgasm per lovemaking session as humans were; like females, they could have as many as their partner was willing to give, and no messy cleanup. If he'd known about this, he thought ruefully, he'd have begged Bella to change him long before now.

When he was finally sated, he collapsed beside her and pulled her into a cuddle. She drew a heart on his chest and smiled up at him, though her eyes were just a little sad. He knew what she was thinking without having to ask. He wished he could erase the memory of that grief she and Jacob had felt.

There was a knock and he sighed. "We'd better get dressed," he said reluctantly as he tugged on a pair of sweat pants to answer the door.

"Plane's fueled," Jacob said.

Edward took a deep breath out of habit, not necessity. "We'll be ready in ten minutes."


	23. Chapter 23

.  
>~.~<p>

Chapter Twenty-three

~.~

Esme sat in front of her dressing table, brushing out her hair. Edward hadn't seen his mother's hair unbound in years; she usually kept it swept up into a twist or an elaborate bun. He could see streaks of silver that twined in her caramel-gold locks, signs of age that his color-blindness had hidden from him. She wore an old-fashioned nightgown in white, with a housecoat over it. Ostrich feathers decorated the toes of her mules and he could see the bright pink polish on her toes, an unexpected whimsical touch.

Her balcony doors were open and the gauzy curtains beside them danced in the flower-scented breeze which blew in from the garden. Edward stepped through the open doors and said softly, "Mother."

Esme jumped and dropped the hairbrush onto the vanity table with a clatter. "Edward! My goodness, you scared the life out of me! Any particular reason you decided to eschew the front door?" She glanced at her watch and a puzzled line appeared between her eyebrows as she noted the lateness of the hour.

Edward went over and knelt beside her. "I'm ... going somewhere, Mother, and I needed to see you one last time before I left. Just in case ..."

"In case of what? Edward, is there something wrong? You look ..." She frowned and peered at her son more closely.

He didn't answer. He didn't know what to say.

Esme reached out slowly, with a hand that trembled, and touched the side of Edward's neck. He heard her breath puff out. Her hand trailed down to his chest and rested over his heart for a moment. A sound left her, a sound he never wanted to hear again, a soft, wounded whimper. His mind went back to that horrible evening, all those years ago, when Esme had answered the phone and been told that Carlisle had died of a heart attack, his body discovered by his secretary in his office in the Masen International building. She'd made a similar sound then and sank slowly to the floor.

Esme snatched her hand back and pressed it over her mouth as tears filled her eyes. "You're - "

"Yes," Edward said simply.

A sob wrenched from her, followed closely by another. She pinched her lips together, hard, and saw her struggle to fight them back, even as the tears made their way down her cheeks. "Did Bella - ?"

"No, it wasn't Bella." He took her hand in his own and she gave a tiny gasp at the chill of his skin. She clasped her other hand over his and rubbed as if to warm it.

It was a moment before she spoke again. "At least you're not ... gone."

He felt tears of his own sting his eyes and he looked away as he tried to blink them back.

"Oh, Edward," she sighed. "There were so many things I wanted for you ..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be normal for you," he said. "I always wished -"

"No," she said softly. "I always loved you, just as you are, Edward. I pushed you, when I shouldn't have, because I wanted you to have every opportunity in life, every choice that I could offer you. I thought if I -" she cut off and shook her head. "I suppose it doesn't matter now." She brushed a hand over his hair. "Will ... will I see you again?"

He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "I hope so."

Esme drew in a shaky breath. "You were such a gift, Edward. God gave me such a blessing when he sent you to me."

"I'm glad you were the one He chose."

Her voice cracked. "But I made so many mistakes ..."

"Stop," he said softly. "That's not important. The important part is that I always knew that you and father loved me. I never doubted that. That was the gift you gave to me."

She sobbed again, even as she smiled. She slid off her chair and threw her arms around Edward's neck and held him tightly, just as she had always done when he was a little boy whose rich imagination had given him terrible nightmares, or he had been wounded by the teasing of his peers. He laid his head on her shoulder. "I love you, mother."

"Oh, Edward, I love you, too." She kissed his cheek and he felt the warmth of her tears against his skin.

* * *

><p>At this time of night, the small airport was mostly deserted. Emmett drove the van around the terminal toward the runway that Edward's plane had been assigned and slammed on the brakes when he saw the car waiting in front of the aircraft. Two men in sports jackets and ties waited by it, and Emmett immediately recognized their kind, even from this distance.<p>

"Oh shit!" he gasped. "Cops! Hide me!" He unfastened his seat belt and tried to dive over the seat into the back. Bella squawked in alarm and tried to scramble out of the way, out of fear of being squished.

Rose grabbed Emmett by his belt and tried to pull him back as he wiggled and swore. "Dammit, Emmett, don't stop here! You'll make them suspicious!"

Jacob peered at the two men waiting by the unmarked sedan and tried to think of reasons why police would be waiting for them. "You got outstanding warrants?"

Emmett spread his hands. "I don't know," he said sheepishly. "Maybe. At one time, there were ... uh ... _a lot_ of them, you know. For a while, even the cops were confused about it."

"Emmett, drive!" Rose commanded. Knowing the Voice Of Authority when he heard it, Emmett sank back down into his seat and gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. He turned to Rose and his eyes were more intense than Jacob had ever seen them. He felt almost like he was intruding on a private exchange and he quickly looked away.

"I gotta know something before I do: if I go back to jail, Rosie, will you wait for me?" Emmett asked softly.

Rose stared at him. "What?"

"Will you still be here when I get out?" he pressed.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Of course I will! I _love_ you, dumbass!"

"Awesome." Emmett grinned and put the car back in gear and drove over to park beside the cops. "Oh, shit, I know those guys," he muttered. "Yorkie is the guy on the left, the one who looks like he dyes his hair with shoe polish. He's a nice guy. Good cop. But Newton is a real asshole. He's one of those kind who thinks _everybody_ is a criminal."

Jacob thought that Newton bore a marked resemblance to Draco Malfoy with his pale blond hair and perpetual sneer. They all climbed out of the car, carefully casual. Emmett even started whistling tunelessly, his hands thrust deep into his pockets. He looked as guilty as hell.

Yorkie held up his badge. "Dr. Edward Cullen?"

Everyone was startled. They all turned to look at Edward in surprise. He looked bewildered. "Y- yes?"

"I'm Detective Michael Newton. This is my partner, Eric Yorkie. We'd like to ask you a few questions." He glanced over their group and his face broke into a smile when he spotted Jacob's brother. "Hey, Emmett! How are you?" Emmett's cheerful good nature had endeared him even to the cops who frequently arrested him.

"Hello, Detective Yorkie, Detective Newton," Emmett said, his voice uncharacteristically meek. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Are you staying out of trouble? I haven't seen your name on the docket in a while."

"The love of a good woman set me on the straight and narrow," Emmett declared and put an arm around Rose's shoulders. Rose actually blushed a little.

Detective Newton snorted. He had the look of a man who'd been served a shit sandwich on stale bread at the banquet of life, and was convinced it was everyone's fault but his.

"What is this about?" Rose asked, her voice crisp.

Newton stared intently at Edward. "When was the last time you saw Tanya Denali?"

Edward looked panicked. He found it difficult to speak to strangers under the best of circumstances and he realized that his stammers and awkwardness would only make him look guilty, in their eyes.

Rose intervened. "Why? Did she do something wrong?"

"She's missing," Newton said bluntly. "Her best friend reported that she never came home one evening. And I think Edward knows _exactly_ where she is."

Rose shook her head. "They broke up months ago. Why do you think he would know anything about it?"

"We saw something very interesting today," Newton said, directing his words at Edward.. "A video Miss Denali made shortly before her disappearance, detailing the abuse in your relationship."

Emmett frowned. "She was always kind of mean to Edward, but I don't think it ever actually reached the level of _abusive_."

"Very funny, Mr. Black," Newton snapped. "You know damn well we're talking about what Dr. Cullen did to Miss Denali."

"_Edward_?" Emmett laughed. "You're kidding, right? He's the most mild-mannered guy I know!"

"I assume you have proof of this _alleged_ abuse?" Rose interjected.

"The video ... " Newton began.

"... is unauthenticated," Rose interrupted. "Isn't it?"

Newton said nothing.

"Do you actually have the original recording, or only a copy that cannot be verified as being unedited?"

Newton's face burned a furious red and his eyes practically shot sparks at Rose.

She continued: "And you have no other evidence of this _alleged_ abuse, do you? No medical records, no photographs of injuries. No accusations while Miss Denali was actually involved with Dr. Cullen ... Nothing that would be admissible in court, in other words."

"Oh, _look_," Newton mocked. "If it isn't another armchair attorney, someone who knows _aaaaall about_ the criminal justice system after watching a few episodes of _Law and Order. _Where did you get your legal degree, cupcake?"

"Stanford, actually." Rose whipped her wallet from her purse and withdrew an American Bar Association membership card. "And they taught me some very interesting things about the probative value of unauthenticated video tapes."

Newton's face turned purple. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides and he quivered with rage.

"Now, if that's all, we must be going." Rose tucked the card back into her wallet.

"You aren't going _anywhere!_" Newton snapped. "You can't leave town while we're investigating - "

"Wrong again, _cupcake_," Rose interrupted. She looked like she was enjoying herself, if the small smile tugging at the corner of her lips was any indication. "Unless Dr. Cullen is under arrest, or you have a judge's order, you cannot prevent him from going where he pleases. Perhaps you need to watch a few more episodes of _Law and Order_ yourself, Detective."

Newton took a step forward and Yorkie stepped into his path quickly. "Come on, Mike," he said quietly. He tugged on Newton's sleeve and Newton shook him off impatiently.

Rose tilted her head and smiled coyly. "Here's what I think: I think you don't have jack shit and you're hoping you can bully and intimidate Edward into incriminating himself."

"You think you're hot shit, don't you?" Newton spat. "Keeping rich pricks like him from facing the justice they deserve?"

"Considering that you've revealed yourself to be woefully ignorant of the circumstances involved, I'm not terribly confident in your ability to decide what 'justice' actually is, Detective. You have absolutely nothing that links Dr. Cullen to Miss Denali's disappearance - if, indeed, she actually _is_ missing and not playing Drama Queen and hoping to make everyone worry about her - except for the lies of a scorned woman on a video that you can't even authenticate."

"We have a statement from Miss Denali's friend, Jessica Stanley, that she was going to see Edward when she disappeared," Newton snapped and then his eyes widened as he realized that Rose had successfully goaded him into showing his cards.

"Jessica Stanley?" Emmett repeated. "My sister's girlfriend?"

Yorkie spoke up. "That's not what she said. She said she was your_ brother's_ girlfriend."

"First she goes to the tabloids and says I sexually harassed her, and now she says we're _together_?" Jacob shook his head. "And you _believed_ her?"

Nessa let out a burst of laughter that made Newton jump slightly. He pivoted on his heel and glared at her. "What?"

"You truly _have_ been duped. Because Jacob is _my_ boyfriend."

Jacob had to hand it to her: the girl lied like a champion. She didn't even blink as Newton tried to stare her down.

"Speaking of tabloids," he taunted, "how did you feel about seeing your boyfriend making out with Mrs. Cullen?"

Nessa laughed again. "Not terribly observant, are you, Detective? Try actually _looking_ at the picture. They aren't even touching. And while you're digging for clues in the _National Enquirer_, you might want to note the photographer's name. That will give you a _big_ clue as to the kind of person you've chosen to believe."

Newton rolled his eyes and glanced pointedly at his watch, as if he didn't have time to be bothered by petty things such as facts, but Yorkie was scribbling in a small notebook.

Rose took a card from her purse. "We're leaving now, Detectives. If you need to speak to my client again, contact me and I'll see what I can arrange. But unless you come packing a warrant, I wouldn't count on me returning your calls." Rose turned and started up the stairs into the plane and Newton actually lunged forward a step. Yorkie put his hand on Newton's arm and spoke rapidly into his ear, togging him toward their waiting sedan.

"This isn't over," he hissed at Edward.

"Oh, good," Rose chirped. "More billable hours!"

Inside the plane, they all sank down into the plush chairs with sighs. Bella grimaced at the leather and scooted down to sit on the floor with her back against the bulkhead.

"Well, this sucks," Rose noted. "Apparently, Tanya decided she was going to give up her old life when she got vamped and she was going to use the opportunity to frame you, Edward."

"But why would she do that if she knew she was going to kidnap him?" Nessa asked.

Rose shrugged. "She was not exactly famed for being a logical thinker. Maybe she was hoping that if he was being harassed by the cops, he'd be more willing to run away with her, or something."

"I wish we could put her back together so we could kill her again," Jacob muttered.

"Rose, did you really go to Stanford?" Emmett asked suddenly.

Rose let out an exasperated laugh. "Of course I did! Did you think I'd made it up?"

"Well, I didn't know if it was one of the identities you set up, or something," Emmett mumbled. Jacob could see a subtle change in his demeanor. Emmett had always felt dumb and having further evidence of Rose's intelligence would intimidate him. Jacob made a mental note to speak to him later.

"No one is better at circumventing the law than a lawyer," Rose said breezily.

* * *

><p>The roar of the plane engine made Edward's ears hurt. He tried using the earplugs that the flight attendant brought him, but they only helped a little. Bella didn't seem bothered by it. She chatted amicably with Rose and Nessa. He knew he ought to be paying attention to the conversation because they were making plans, but he was too miserable. He laid his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.<p>

"Sorry, man," Jacob said from his seat across from Edward's. "Maybe we should have drove."

Edward shook his head. "We'd never make it in time."

They were headed to a city on the southern coast. Rose had checked the schedule for Brady's shipping line and discovered that a vessel would be leaving tomorrow morning. Jinx and Brady were likely to be on it, Rose reasoned. It made sense: they had to get out of the country fast and Brady didn't own a plane. He was unlikely to fly commercial out of fear he might be held in a layover or trapped on a plane as dawn broke over the horizon.

"How'd your mom take it?" Jacob asked, and his eyes were sympathetic.

"About as well as can be expected, I suppose. I don't think any mother can be fully prepared for their son to come home and say '_Hi, mom! I'm dead, and I just wanted to let you know you'll never get those grandchildren you wanted!'"_

Jacob flinched. "I'm sorry."

Edward shook his head. "Not your fault."

"Sure, but I'm sorry just the same. I know that you wanted kids."

Edward didn't say anything. He knew it was an impossibility now. Even adoption would be out of the question, at least until he was old enough not to conk out instantly as soon as the sun broke over the horizon.( It had actually been a little scary yesterday morning, the way the darkness had sucked him under, though Bella had assured him it was normal.)

"You don't look much different," Jacob said, apropos of nothing. "Maybe a little paler, but you always were a pasty-white fucker."

"We can't all be bronzed and beautiful like you, Jacob," Edward said.

"What does it feel like?" Jacob took a drink of his Coke.

"I'm not sure yet," Edward confessed. "I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the enhanced senses. I can hear your heartbeat from here."

Jacob was startled by that, and a bit discomfited. "Does the smell of blood still bother you?"

Edward shook his head. "As long as I'm not hungry. Nessa got me some more bottles of blood."

"I noticed Bella had to drink a couple herself. Is she okay?"

If Edward could have blushed, he would have been scarlet. "Yeah, um ... I ... uh ..."

Jacob chuckled. "Need a cigar?"

"There's not enough tobacco in the world."

"That much different? Better?"

Edward kept his eyes fastened on the floor.

Jacob grinned. "Which explains why you guys didn't leave your room all evening."

"Jake," said Edward, pained.

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you about it, but you've got me curious." He fell silent for a moment and then said softly, "Edward ... Are you okay_? _I mean, you seem to be handling this pretty well, but ..."

Edward gave him a faint smile. "It's not like I have much of a choice."

"We never talked about it," Jacob said, as if he had just realized it. "Did you ever think you'd want to be a vampire?"

Edward tapped his fingers on the arm rest. "Honestly, I never thought about it." He flicked his eyes up to meet Jacob's. "Do you want to?"

Jacob blinked. "I ... uh ..."

"We've got a problem," Rose said suddenly. She had just taken the plane's telephone away from her ear and dropped it into the cradle.

"What?"

"They're already gone. I called around until I found a friend-of-a-friend who knows someone on Brady's crew. The ship left a day early."

"Shit!" Jacob said. "Do we know where they're headed, at least?"

"Several ports of call, but the last one is Italy." Rose rubbed her temples. "I think they're going to the Queen."


	24. Chapter 24

.

~.~

Chapter Twenty-four

~.~

"Why would they want to see the Queen?" Jacob asked. "What could they possibly hope to gain from that, especially when Victoria is bound to be pissed that Brady created a fledgeling without permission?"

Rose shook her head. "They'll simply claim he did it _in extremis. _To save her life." Rose added the last when it was apparent the Latin term was unfamiliar to most of her audience. "And since Tanya isn't here to confirm or deny it ..."

"But Victoria knows Jinx wants to start a war."

"You don't understand." Rose ran a hand through her hair. "Bella killed Brady's fledgeling. It doesn't matter _why_ she did it. The law doesn't have a 'nasty bitch' exception clause. Just like human law, actually. If you've got a beef with someone you sue them or call the cops; you don't take the law into your own hands. Bella should have taken it to the Council and then the Volturi would have carried out the sentence."

Edward flinched. "Isn't there any sort of _in extremis_ exception for that, as well? If, perhaps, Bella said she was trying to save me from Tanya ... ?"

"There is, but there are two witnesses who will swear you were dead before Bella arrived."

"But doesn't that make it even worse for them?" Jacob asked. "Nessa, you told me that vampires are responsible for whatever their fledglings do for a year or so, right?"

Nessa nodded slightly. "To a certain extent. If Brady knew that Tanya was killing people and didn't try to stop her or turn her over to the Volturi for punishment ... But in this case, Brady never had a chance to do anything because Bella killed Tanya right after the crime."

"So, is Brady legally responsible for Edward's ... death?" Jacob obviously didn't want to say the last word. Edward gave him a small smile to tell him it was all right.

"Yes and no. I'm sure the way Jinx and Brady will tell the story will make it seem like they thought she was perfectly stable and she attacked so fast that they couldn't stop her, and Bella killed Tanya before they could address it with the Volturi." Nessa cleared her throat and looked distinctly uncomfortable. "They'll likely have to pay a fine."

"A fucking _fine?_" Jacob repeated, incredulous and outraged. "My best friend is now one of the un-fucking-dead and they're going to ask Brady to pay a _fine_?" He glanced over at Edward. "Uh, no offense, man. You know I'd rather have you with us, undead, rather than _real_ dead."

Edward waved a hand. "None taken."

"A fucking _fine._ Jesus!" Jacob shook his head and muttered dark and dire things under his breath.

"The only vampires who are destroyed for breaking the law are those who let their fledgelings run wild," Nessa said. She bit her lip and flinched when she saw the rage on Jacob's face. "The queen knows that most of the _in extremis_ claims are probably bullshit, but most of the people are ones that the Council or Victoria herself would have approved anyway. The law pretty much exists so they can punish the vamps who irresponsibly or intentionally create murderous fledgelings and let them run amok, which puts all vampire-kind in danger."

"I can't believe this," Jacob muttered. "Tanya _was_ murderous. Bitch was crazy even before she was changed and it doesn't appear that being vamped improved her mental health much."

Nessa let out a short puff of exasperation. "I know this, Jacob. I'm on _your side_. I'm just trying to tell you their point of view. The Council will see it as it being their role to make that decision and decide what sentence to impose, not Bella. And now she's gunning for Brady. The Queen is obligated to protect him if he asks her, because right now, he's legally innocent and Bella is the one breaking the law in trying to bring him harm. Think of it in human terms. You could ask the courts for a restraining order or police protection against someone trying to attack you."

"She not stop me," Bella said quietly. "Both Brady and Shinx. They die."

Nessa closed her eyes. "And if Victoria lets Bella kill Jinx, she could be facing a war with the fae."

"You're kidding. They'd fight a war over that asshole?"

"There aren't many of them left," Nessa pointed out. "And relations between vamps and the fae have been a little ... touchy as it is."

Jacob turned to Bella. "Honey, maybe we'd better not go."

"You not have to go," Bella replied. "But I go."

"Honey ..."

Bella spoke to Nessa. "You call Queen and say I come. I not hurt her if she not try to stop me. My power greater than she know. She not win if she try fight me. You sure tell her that."

"I ... I will," Nessa said. "But, Bella, it won't be just Victoria you're up against. The Volturi -"

Bella patted Nessa's hand. "I no want kill them, but I will, if make me."

"Maybe we should just wait until Jinx and Brady think you've calmed down and leave Victoria's protection," Rose suggested.

Bella set her jaw in that stubborn look that they all were becoming familiar with. "Tell plane go It'ly."

"Let's try Dakar first," Rose said. "That's the first port of call. Maybe we can catch them before they get to Victoria."

"If they left early, are you sure they're going to all of the places that they're scheduled?" Jacob asked.

"No. But it's worth a shot, right?"

"Bella?" Edward asked. "It's your decision."

She nodded. "We try catch them first."

Edward pressed the button on the armrest to call the flight attendant.

* * *

><p>When he woke, Edward leapt out of the bed and stumbled across the room, every nerve tingling with alarm. Where the hell was he? He couldn't -<p>

_Hotel_.

Bella sat up in the bed an stretched. He flicked his eyes around the room but saw no one else, no danger. He could hear sounds from the rooms all around him, which had probably been what had alarmed him. Arguments, conversations, water pouring in showers, sex, canned laughter and theme songs on a hundred televisions ...

This was one aspect of being a vampire he disliked: instant wakefulness. There was no snuggling against Bella's soft body and settling back for a bit of a pleasant doze until the alarm went off again. He was immediately alert and usually woke in a state of confusion, his mind still not used to the influx of sounds and scents.

Bella slid from the bed and went over to wrap her arms around him. "Okay?" she asked softly. It was one of the few words she always spoke in English. She normally spoke Quechua with him and there was a sweet intimacy to it, having their own "private" language.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry. It's hard to get accustomed to the sharper senses."

"I remember. It would be worse in this time, I think. More people. More noises. Strange smells. It is a different world than the one in which I woke." She brushed the hair back from his forehead. "I promise that it will get better."

He drew her into his arms for a hug and laid his cheek on top of her head.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, and the words alone were enough to make his gut clench and his fangs lengthen.

"I am."

She glanced at the clock. "We have time." It would be a few more hours before they were due to take off again. They'd landed here, refueled and had to file a new flight plan, which meant a lay-over, so they'd decided to spend the day in a hotel where they'd be more comfortable. Thankfully, Rose had remembered to bring their passports, including the new one she had made for Emmett, who'd never been out of his home state, let alone the country.

"Come." Bella led him into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He watched with hooded eyes as she stripped and then turned to slowly peel his clothes off him. He followed her into the cubicle and it was a long while before they emerged. Edward's new color vision meant he needed to re-explore her body and enjoy all of the various shades of pink her skin had to offer, and so his mood was considerably better as they rode the elevator down to the lobby.

They stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the hotel and his senses were immediately barraged by the sights, scents and sounds of night in the city. A bar across the street spilled throbbing techno music into the street every time the door opened. A couple drove by in a silver Volvo, snatches of the argument they were having trailing behind them like ribbons. He might have stood there all night, a bit overwhelmed by all of the sensory data if Bella had not caught Edward's hand in her own and led him across the street.

Edward dug in his heels when they reached the door to the bar. "Bella, I don't want to go in there."

"It's not what you think," she said. "The humans are just a disguise."

_Disguise_? He followed her, curious. They wound through the crowd, past the packed dance floor that moved like a singular organism to the pounding beat of the music. The scent of blood, flesh and sweat of the frenetic dancers soaked the air. He stopped breathing. The thunderous music competed with the sound of hundreds of heartbeats, of shouted scraps of conversation. He wished he could shut off his ears, as well.

Bella reached a door at the back of the club. It was well-concealed, painted the same shade as the wall, flush against it, with only its knob as a clue it was there. A bald bouncer sat on a wood stool beside it, his thickly muscled arms crossed over his chest. Edward heard him sniff the air and then he rose to open the door for them. "My lord, my lady," he said, and gave them a quick bow as they passed.

"What's with the titles?" Edward asked, but Bella's only response was a shrug. They headed down a long, dim hallway which sloped downward, leading them underground, starkly plain with pale tile on the floor and light gray walls. The music faded away with every step that they took. It was almost completely silent before they reached the double doors at the end of the hall. The doors were a strangely incongruous touch in such an institutional-looking hallway: Large, dark-strained wood with black, cast-iron hardware, arched at the top.

"What is this place?" Edward asked.

"It's a vampire's blood bar," Bella told him. "Nessa found it for us. We can find a live donor or buy your dinner bottled, if you prefer." Bella tugged on one of the handles and Edward gaped at what he saw inside.

It looked like a Goth whorehouse. He bit his lip to keep a straight face as he glanced around. Someone had apparently decided to wholly embrace the cliché, and Edward couldn't decide if it was intended to be facetious or not. The wall paper was purple, printed with black lace fans. Against its gloom, the red velvet furniture stood out starkly, as did the brass candelabra lighting the room. Soft music pulsed in the background, set very low as to not offend vampire ears. Booths with high backs lined the walls, also red velvet, and Romanesque divans were scattered around the center of the room. Most bore a writhing couple, a vampire with a donor, or couples caught up in the overtly sensual atmosphere. Along one wall was a typical bar with high stools perched in front of it.

Their entrance caught the interest of many of the room's occupants, and from their expressions, they were judging them on a scale between "_fresh blood_" and "_new competition_." A few of the male vampires cast Bella admiring looks. Edward glared at them and edged closer to her. It seemed that becoming a vampire had also intensified his possessive streak.

They headed toward the bar and Bella hopped up onto a stool. Edward stood behind her, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. Two stools down, a vampire smiled at Bella and opened his mouth to speak to her. Edward surprised himself by snarling and the guy quickly looked back down at his cocktail glass.

The bartender strolled over, wiping a glass with a towel. Apparently, bartenders were a uniform breed across species because he looked as though he'd be equally at home in a sports bar or cocktail lounge. "What can I getcha?" he asked.

"What have?" Bella asked.

The bartender eyed her curiously. "First timer?"

"Yes."

The bartender sniffed the air. "Gosh, he's really new."

Bella's eyes narrowed slightly. "What you mean?"

"He still has a little human scent to him. I bet you're less than a week old, aren't you, fledgeling?"

Edward didn't answer. One of the positive aspects of being a vampire was that he didn't blush any more, but he still had trouble meeting peoples' eyes.

"You her fledgeling?" the bartender asked Edward, who remained silent.

"Not you need to know," Bella retorted.

The bartender held up his hands. "Sorry! Sorry. Just curious. Do you guys know what you're looking for?"

Bella nodded. "Edwurr hungry."

The bartender chuckled. "Of course he is. Fledgelings always are. You want a live donor or bottled?"

"Edwurr?"

Edward glanced over at the divans and the people tangled upon them in the ecstasy of feeding and mentally cringed. He didn't have a shred of exhibitionism, that was for sure. "Bottled."

"Plain or spiked?"

"Spiked?" Bella repeated. "What?"

"Yeah, we got everything from Jack to smack. Whatever your poison. But if you ain't used to drug-laced blood, I'd suggest going with a little Reefer Madness. Has a smooth, mellow high."

"No drugs kind?" Bella asked.

The bartender grinned. "Sure. But what's the fun in that?"

"No drugs," Bella repeated.

"All right. We got just about every type, though we're out of AB Negative right now. Shit's had to come by, but that's why it's so expensive."

Edward pointed at a bottle he recognized as one that Nessa had bought for him. "That one."

"Ah, O Positive. Excellent choice. Cash or credit?"

Edward laid down his Visa card and the bartender wrapped up their bottles in paper while he waited for the transaction to process.

"Hi," said a female voice from Edward's side.

He turned quickly, startled because he hadn't heard anyone approach. Vampires could walk silently when they wanted. A short blonde woman smiled at him. Edward was slightly startled by her eyes. They were light blue with a dark ring around the iris, and he wondered if his own eyes would look like that some day after they faded as Bella said they would. This woman must be very old, indeed.

"Hey, handsome," she said. "Interested in a little fun?

"He _mine,"_Bella hissed. "You go 'way."

"You can join in, too," the woman shrugged.

Bella turned slowly in her chair. She looked up at the woman through narrowed eyes, and her voice was low with menace. "I say _go 'way_."

The woman's eyes widened and she scurried off. The bartender handed Edward the receipt and a pen., "She didn't mean no offense, lady," he said to Bella. "Most vamps don't mind sharing."

Bella smiled at him. "Goddess do not share." And with that, she plucked the paper bag from the counter, and led Edward out of the bar.

* * *

><p>Jacob listened to the phone ring on the other end of the line. Four rings. Five.<p>

_She must not be home._

"Hello?" Alice sounded out of breath.

"Hey, sis," Jacob said. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No! I was putting the kids to bed and had to run for the phone. God, Jacob, I've been hoping you'd call. Where _are _you? I haven't heard from you since that night we went to rescue Edward." They had sent Alice and Jasper home when they decided to stay over the day at the house, telling her only that they'd found Edward and she didn't need to worry. Which was sort of stupid, Jacob had to admit, because Alice wasn't the type to let something like this go.

"I'm in South Carolina right now, actually, but I'm going to be gone for a little while."

Alice was silent for a moment. "You're not going to give me details, are you?"

"I can't," Jacob said. "It's probably safer for you if you don't know anything. But I needed to talk to you. Just to say ... Well, just to say that I love you, and I hope you know that."

He heard her catch her breath and when she spoke, her voice was strained. "You're in danger, aren't you? You're afraid you ... you might now have another chance?"

Jacob gripped the phone tightly. "There's a possibility," he admitted. "But if there's something I learned through all of this: You should never wait to tell people how you feel. Life is way too goddamn short and uncertain to waste a single moment with the people you love."

"You're right. I've realized that, too, which is why I told Jasper that I forgive him."

"Really?" Jacob wasn't sure that he would.

"He made a mistake, Jacob. God knows I've made my own share of them. We were broken up at the time and he was lonely. He was going to do the right thing, though, and help take care of the baby, but then ... Well, however it happened, there isn't a baby any more. He knows he was wrong to try to hide it from me. I think we've both learned some things since we've been broken up. Can you give him another chance, please?"

"Yeah, Allie, I will." God, he hoped for Alice's sake that it worked out this time.

"Please, Jake, be careful."

"I will."

"Listen, Jake, there's something I need to say to you. And, as you said, life is too short not to tell people how you feel."

"Allie, I'll be fine. I'm with Bella. She's tough."

"Jake, please. I know you're not going to Buckingham for high tea with the Queen. You might never come back, and I ... I need to tell you something."

Jacob closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. "What is it, Allie?"

"I need to say that I'm sorry. I've been a real shit to you over the last couple of years. I ... I'm messed up, Jake. In my heart, I knew that you loved me and you'd never do anything to hurt me, but there was, like, this little voice inside me which kept saying you were trying to hold me back, to keep me from being happy. I don't know why I listened to it. You and Em ... you're the only people in my life who've never fucked me over, never tried to tear me down, never tried to take anything from me. But, somehow, I kept expecting that you'd turn out to be using me, or hurt me like everyone else, and it was just a matter of time. So I kept poking at you, trying to make you blow up. Like, _'Just do it already.'_ And I don't know how to apologize for something like that. It seems a lot bigger than '_I'm sorry'_ can cover. So, I'll just say, '_Thank you.'_ Thank you for loving me, even though I didn't deserve it. Thank you for being there for me, even when '_there'_ was some place I had put myself out of my own stupidity and stubborn blindness. I love you, Jake."

Jacob's throat was so tight, he could barely speak. "I love you, too, Allie. I always will. Give the kids a hug and a kiss for me, okay?"

"Jake ..."

"I gotta go, Allie. Love you." He hung up the phone quickly and sank down to the floor, resting his elbows on his knees. He dropped his head down onto his arms.

"You're right, you know."

Jacob jumped. "Jesus! Nessa, what the fuck? Don't sneak up on people like that."

"I didn't sneak," she said. "I knocked on the connecting door. You must not have heard."

"Yeah, I guess not." He scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I heard what you said about life being too short," she repeated. She leaned her crutches against the wall and carefully lowered herself to sit beside him. It was a moment before she spoke, and when she did, her cheekbones pinkened a little. "I really like you, Jake."

"Huh? _Me_? Why?"

She grabbed him by the front of the shirt and planted a kiss on him. For a moment, he was frozen, wide-eyed, and then he noticed how sweet and soft her lips were. She slipped her arms up around his neck and he drew her closer, her lush body pressed against his own as the kiss deepened, seemingly of its own accord. He heard himself groan softly as his hands slid up her rib cage and-

"Wait -" He broke away. "I'm not sure we should -"

"I am," she replied, and kissed him again.

Lust punched through him with brutal heat as he kissed her hungrily. Hands stroked and explored. Jacob scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to his bed, depositing her gently in the center before dropping down beside her. Nessa moaned as his mouth trailed down her neck to the neckline of her blouse. His fingers fumbled with the tiny buttons, impatient to bare more of her sweet-tasting skin. She tugged at his t-shirt and he removed it, hurling it to the foot of the bed.

He wasn't sure which of them had removed their clothes and he didn't even notice they were gone until he reached back to get his wallet and the condom inside and found he wasn't wearing any pants. He fished beside the bed for them and pulled out the foil packet.

"Jake?" Nessa said.

"Mm?" He used his teeth to tear it open. His hands didn't want to leave her long enough to put it on, and he decided to try it one handed so he could -

"Jake?"

He met her eyes.

"I think I should tell you that ... um ... I haven't done this before."

"Done what?" he said, stupidly, thinking she was going to say that she'd never made love impulsively before.

"_This._ You know ... sex." Nessa's face was scarlet.

Jacob's jaw dropped. "You ... You're a _virgin_?"

She said irritably, "Jesus, Jake, you say it like I just confessed to being a leper."

He swore softly and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there for a moment, trying to gather his composure. "I can't do this."

"What?" Now it was her turn to be surprised. "Why?"

"Because your first time should be special. Not with a guy like me." Jacob picked his pants up and pulled them on before he turned back to face her. "I'm sorry, but I just ... I can't."

She tilted up her chin, even as her eyes began to shine with gathering tears. "Shouldn't I be the one to decide what I want?" She took one of the pillows and hugged it to herself, covering her body, though Jacob wasn't looking any more.

He pulled on his t-shirt. "I'm a mistake. Trust me. And you don't want to throw away something special on a guy like me."

"What do you _mean_, 'a guy like you'? Jake I know you. you're -"

He held up a hand. "Stop. I can't, okay? I just ... can't." He turned around and hurried from the room. It wasn't until he was in the elevator that he realized he didn't have any shoes, but thankfully, the bartender didn't care.


	25. Chapter 25

.

~.~

Chapter Twenty-five

~.~

Jacob stumbled as he climbed the stairs and practically fell into the airplane. "Oops," he snickered, clinging to the wall for support. "Sorry!"

"Jake, you're _drunk,"_ Edward accused. He hurried over to help Jacob into one of the seats.

"I can see becoming a vampire has not muted your staggering powers of observation," Jacob replied with a big, goofy grin, and slumped against Edward as he led him through the cabin.

Edward grimaced. "You smell like a bottle of scotch."

"Jack Daniels, actually." Jacob flopped limply into the seat to which Edward led him. "Can't afford the good shit that Felix buys. No job, remember?"

"Great." Emmett shook his head in disgust. "Following in Dad's footsteps. Real smart, Jake."

The good humor on Jacob's face was replaced by shame. "Em, I ..."

"Whatever." Emmett turned away and stared out the window into the darkness. Jacob stared at him, forlorn, searching for something to say. But there really _wasn't_ anything he could say. Emmett was right, and what's more, Jacob had known it even before he'd ordered his first drink and told the bartender to leave the bottle. _See, Nessa? I told you. A guy like me ..._

Bella sat in the chair beside Jacob and took his hand. "Shaykob, what wrong?"

Jacob shook his head. "Nothin', Bella, honey." He couldn't explain something like this to her, even if they had shared a language in which both were fluent. He couldn't really explain it to himself.

"You lie. Bad."

"Yeah, okay, that was a lie, but ... Just let it go, okay?"

"No, not okay."

Jacob gave her a lopsided smile and was about to answer when the flight attendant came back to the cabin. "Are you ready to depart, Mr. Cullen?"

Edward glanced at his watch. "Not yet. Nessa isn't here."

Jacob sat up in his chair so abruptly, he nearly fell out of it. "Nessa? She's not on board? Where is she?"

Edward shook his head. "I don't know. She just never arrived."

"It's not like her to be late," Rose noted as she took out her cell phone and made a call. She listened to it ring for a few moments before she hung up and stated the obvious. "She's not answering her cell. I'll call the hotel. Does anyone remember her room number?"

"417," Edward replied instantly. He never forgot a number.

Rose dialed swiftly and held the little black phone to her ear. As soon as the hotel operator came on the line, she asked to be transferred to Nessa's room. She listened for a moment and frowned. "Are you sure? What time? I see. Thank you." Rose lowed the phone and punched the _END_ button. She gazed at it for a moment before raising her eyes. "She checked out a few hours ago."

"What? Why?" Emmett demanded. "She knew what time we were leaving, right?"

"Yes," said Rose and spread her hands to indicate she had no idea why Nessa would have fled. "She knew."

Edward shook his head slightly. "So, she ... just _left_?"

"To go back to Victoria?" Emmett added.

"For lack of a better explanation, yeah, apparently so."

"But this makes no sense," Edward protested. "Why would she leave so abruptly? Did something happen?"

"Yes," Jacob said quietly. Everyone turned to stare at him. Jacob felt sick. He rubbed a hand over his face. "I ... uh ..."

"Is this why you're wasted?" Emmett asked, and didn't bother to conceal the scorn.

Jacob looked away, unable to face any of them.

The phone on Rose's lap rang and they all jumped. Rose picked it up and blinked at what she saw on the screen. She hurriedly pressed _SEND_. "Nessa?" Whatever she heard made her eyes widen. She held out the phone and pressed another button. "You're on speaker," she said, her voice strangely hoarse.

"Greetings to you all," the man said.

"Who the fuck are you?" Emmett barked in bewildered response.

"That is of little consequence," the man replied. His voice was cool and emotionless. "What is of interest to you is that we have your friend."

Edward reached down into his carry-on and fished out his laptop. "Keep him talking!" he typed quickly and turned the screen so that Rose could see it. He turned the computer back around and began rapidly pecking on the keys.

"Who?" Rose said. "What friend?"

The man laughed softly. "I know that your kind is self-absorbed, but surely you have noticed that one of your number is missing?" There was a rustle and then a soft sob. "Jacob?" Nessa said. "Jake, I'm sorry! The elves - "

"Oh my fucking God," Jacob whispered. He stood and started for the door, but only made it a few feet before he realized the senselessness of it. He spun around and paced a few more feet in agitated frustration.

There was another rustle and a soft cry in the background before the man spoke again. "You will cease attempting to track Jinx," he said. "Or the girl dies."

"How did you know what we were doing?" Rose asked.

"We knew what you were likely to do. We watched the airports to see if you would come here to try to intercept the ship. Mr. Cullen's pilot filed a new flight plan this afternoon, but you will rescind that order. You will remain where you are. Agents of the Volturi will be with you presently to escort you directly to the Tower in Italy."

"Why?"

The man chuckled softly. "Because the Queen will tell the Dark Goddess that she has the choice either to bow or die. And then the Dark Goddess will embrace her destiny."

"If I've learned anything in my time with Bella, it's that you can't predict what she'll do," Rose said. "She could decide to submit to the Queen's authority."

The man snorted. "Unlikely. In any case, I doubt if the Queen will give her the choice once she hears of Bella's crimes."

"Victoria isn't _stupid_," Rose spat. "She's heard the truth from Nessa. She won't believe you."

"Actually, your little go-between has been having a bit of a communication issue as of late," the man said, amusement coating his words like oil. "Nessa told us that Victoria and she argued the last time Nessa spoke with her - which was after Mr. Cullen's birthday, by the way - and they haven't spoken since."

"That's not true!" Emmett protested. "She told us she called - "

"And was told that the Queen was indisposed and could not come to the phone. And the next time she tried, she got the same response."

"I don't believe it," Emmett said stoutly. "She would have told us." He turned to the rest of them and silently said, "Wouldn't she?"

None of them knew how to answer that.

"It could be that we have an accomplice on the Queen's staff who didn't inform the Queen she'd called," the man noted, and the amused note in his tone was even more pronounced, almost cruelly jovial. "The Queen hasn't heard from Nessa and likely thinks she's a defector at this point."

"Let her go," Jacob said hoarsely. "Please." He glanced up at Bella, his eyes pleading for her to remain silent. "I'll do everything I can to convince Bella to do what you want. Just let Nessa go."

"We will release her when your plane lands in Italy. Not a moment before. Don't worry. You'll get her back in more or less the same condition as you last saw her."

"I swear to God, if you've hurt her ..." Jacob ground out. "If you lay a goddamn _finger_ on her ..."

The man scoffed. "Trust me, I'm trying to avoid touching the smelly little human as much as possible."

Edward waved a hand and mouthed, "Got it!"

"When I find you," Jacob said darkly, "I'm going to rip your arms off and beat you to death with them. I'm gonna go Bath Salts on your ass."

The man laughed in what sounded like genuine delight. "I doubt we shall ever have occasion to meet, but I'll keep that in mind." He disconnected.

Rose smirked and put the phone back into her pocket. "Elves," she said smugly. "They always forget about technology."

"What technology?" Jacob asked.

"I installed a tracking chip in Nessa's phone," Edward said, his eyes intent on the screen.

"What?" Why would you do that?" Jacob sounded a bit indignant.

"Because we thought she was a spy, Jacob," Rose explained, with just a hint of impatience in her tone. "Remember?"

"Yeah, I guess." Jacob rubbed a hand over face. That seemed like a million years ago.

"It only works while it's transmitting, and it takes a few moments for the program to connect, but I've got an address." He turned the computer around and showed them the screen.

"And a Google Map, too," Rose praised. She gave Edward a thumb's up.

* * *

><p>Emmett came back with a rental car, as directed, though he'd deviated from the request just a little. He was driving a bright yellow H2 and when he pulled up to the plane, the windows were rattling from the pounding bass of Notorious B.I.G's <em>Hypnotize. <em>

Emmett rolled down the window. "Come on! Everybody, hop in!"

"Emmett, do you know the definition of _inconspicuous_?" Rose asked.

"I'll turn the radio down when we get closer," Emmett assured her.

Rose sighed and opened the passenger door. Edward, Bella and Jacob climbed into the back seat.

"_That's why they're broke and you're so paid ..." _Emmett sang. He stomped on the accelerator and everyone was flung back against their seats.

"You're hurting the vamps' ears, Emmett," Jacob yelled.

"Oh!" Emmett turned down the volume to a whisper level. "Sorry." He glanced in the rear-view mirror. "So, um, what's the plan?"

"I kill elves," Bella said. "You drive car."

"Now, wait a sec. You're not leaving me - "

"We may need to leave fast," Jacob said. "I can't drive. We need someone we can count on behind the wheel."

Emmett was slightly mollified, but he continued to argue, then insisted that if he couldn't go, neither could Rose, which created a spat between the two of them.

Jacob leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes. He no longer felt drunk. He no longer felt anything but a cold, growing dread and guilt. The last sight he'd had of Nessa's sweet brown eyes haunted him, sparkling with tears of hurt. He wouldn't have thought it was possible to hate himself more, but he was wrong about that, too. He'd meant to spare her from regret but had ended up wounding her even worse, and in the process, had sent her running into danger. If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

Would he ever have a chance to make it up to her? What could he say, anyway? _Sorry I rejected you, but I did it for your own good?_ It sounded lame even in his own mind. If he could go back and do it again he would ... what? Take her up on her offer? Let her find out for herself what a loser she'd picked for such a special moment?

He rubbed his chest absently. There was an ache in the center of it that he didn't really understand, but it didn't matter. It was all his fault and he had to make this right some how.

Two blocks away, Emmett turned off the lights and drove the H2 into a small alley and parked it beside a dumpster. "You stay in car," Bella ordered as she retrieved her sword from under her seat. "Rose, stay, too."

"But, Bella - "

"Don't have time for argue with you," Bella said. "You stay. Keep Memet safe." Neither one of them liked it, but they stayed in the car while Jacob and Edward checked their guns.

"You're letting me come, huh?" Jacob asked her softly. He propped his shotgun against his shoulder.

"Not be able to stop you," Bella said softly. Her eyes were compassionate and he had the uneasy feeling that Bella knew more about the situation between Jacob and Nessa than he would have thought. She patted his arm and set off down the alley after tossing her scabbard into the car. "Remember, must cut off head to kill elf."

"Weapons hot," Edward said, and jerked back the slide of Esme's pistol to chamber a round.

"'_Weapons hot_?' You've seen way too many war movies, Edward."

Edward's only response was a faint smile as he followed Bella around the corner of a building.

While they'd driven, Edward had looked up the building on Google Earth and now he was able to identify it with ease. He pointed to it and they crouched as they crept closer, hugging the shadows. It was an ancient factory or warehouse, apparently abandoned judging by the poor state of repair. It stood in the center of a sea of asphalt, which Jacob noted with some measure of relief. At least they wouldn't have to deal with tree roots this time.

Jacob went for the door, but Bella shook her head. They went around to the side and she crouched down next to a basement window. She rubbed a clean spot on the glass and peered inside before punching through it without even a whimper when the jagged shards sliced into her hand. She unlatched the window and pushed it open before slipping through the hole into the darkness inside.

_I don't know why I let you talk me into this shit_, he remembered Edward saying when Bella had shoved aside her sarcophagus to reveal the opening to the chamber below. He had dropped into the darkness and Bella had caught him. Jacob trusted her the same now.

They were in a large room with machinery covered in translucent plastic tarps made ghostly with dust. Bella and Edward had no difficulty navigating in the dimness, but Jacob stubbed his toe against a jutting edge and had to bite his lip, hard, to keep from swearing as he hopped after them on one foot.

On the stairs, Bella paused and held her hand out to stop Edward and Jacob in their tracks. Silently, slowly, she tiptoed to the top and listened. Suddenly, she wasn't there any more. She moved so fast that it seemed she had simply vanished into thin air. He heard a small sound, like the muffled snap of a twig and then a severed head bounced down the stairs, trailing long blond hair as it spun and bumped its way down the treads. The torso followed, slumping over the top stair, squirting blood from the neatly sliced stump of his neck. Jacob recoiled, but Edward stared at the spreading pool which cascaded down each step, one by one.

"Does that, um, make you hungry?" Jacob asked delicately.

"No, it doesn't smell right," Edward said after a moment.

Bella reappeared at the top of the stairs and motioned them up. With a grimace, Jacob tried to step around the blood but ended up slipping in it and teetering on the edge of a step, his arms pinwheeling madly for balance. Thankfully, Edward grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward before he could tip over backwards and fall down the stairs.

The stairs were separated from the main floor of the building by a short hallway. Bella waited at the door. Her sword gleamed red. She held up two fingers and then made a little walking motion with them and pointed to the left. _Two enemies, a few steps to the left. Got it._

She spun around the door frame, lightning fast. Jacob charged after her, Edward at his side, both of them simultaneously raising their guns. A head bonked against Jacob's ankle and he looked down at it in surprise, which is why the second elf was able to get the drop on him. Jacob saw a flash of silver hair, though the face under it was young, and hard gray eyes before a brutal blow to his chin knocked him off his feet. Jacob fired, but missed as the elf spun away deftly, ducking to avoid the flash of Bella's blade. There was a series of loud bangs as Edward unloaded his pistol straight into the elf's chest. The elf stumbled back and dropped with a graceless thump to the floor, moaning in pain. _  
><em>

Edward bent down and swept Jacob's shotgun off the floor. He ejected the spent round with a single-handed pump and then fired it into the figure on the floor.

Jacob could only stare. "Holy shit, dude. That was cool." He got to his feet, dusting off his jeans. His jaw throbbed, but everything seemed to be in working order.

"A bit less elegant than Bella's sword," Edward said, staring down at the dead elf. "But equally efficacious, it seems. _Zombieland_ rules are hereby in play."

_Okay ... Double-tap, know your way out, and ..._ Jacob couldn't remember the rest of them. There was something about not being a hero and not forming attachments, but the latter was a rule Jacob had already decided to discard.

Bella slammed into Jacob and knocked him back down to the floor. There was a soft _thwack!_ to his right and he turned his head to see an arrow sticking out of the wall. Bella rolled off of him and smoothly twisted to her feet. Her sword flashed and another arrow clattered to the floor, its staff sliced in half. Jacob glanced up and saw the shooter on the catwalk above. It was a woman with golden hair, and she had her bowstring pulled taut, ready to release another arrow.

Jacob grabbed the pistol from Edward's hand. "_Give us the halfling, she-elf!_" he shouted, and it distracted her for the split instant he needed to pull off a shot. And miracle of miracles, it actually hit the target. The woman screamed in pain and dropped the bow, clutching at her wounded hand.

Bella took off in a run for the metal stairs, Edward on her heels. Jacob started after them, but then he saw something lying near one of the pillars. He ran toward it, wishing that Edward hadn't taken his shotgun. The pistol's ammo was in Edward's pocket and he wasn't sure how many rounds were left.

Jacob skidded to a halt in front of what looked like a small pile of cloth. He knelt down and gently pushed. Nessa rolled over and he sucked in a breath. Her face was battered, her eyes nearly swollen shut, dried blood around her mouth. "Oh, God," he whispered.

Her hands were handcuffed behind her back, fastened to a chain around the pillar. There were abrasions and dried blood on her wrists, as if she had fought against the cuffs. "Nessa? Nessa?" He shook her as gently as he could. "Who has the key, honey?"

She stirred a bit and moaned, and then tried to wriggle away from him.

"Nessa, it's me. It's Jacob."

She went still. She tried to open her battered eyes, but they were swollen to mere slits. "Jake?"

"Yeah, it's me. Who has the key to your cuffs?"

"I don't know."

He'd just have to check every dead elf's pockets, he decided, just as a head with golden hair landed beside him with a meaty _thunk_. Nessa recoiled with a soft scream. "It's okay," Jacob told her as the torso landed on his other side. "Bella's cleaning house." He reached over and stuck his hand into the body's pocket and came out with a little pouch. Opening it was a mistake, as he reflected later when he opened his eyes and saw Bella and Edward looking down at him with identical expressions of concern.

"Elvish sleeping powder," Edward explained. He held up another pouch. "Thankfully, Bella remembered the color of the stuff Jinx used to wake up Felix."

"Nessa -"

"Right here, Jake." Nessa helped him sit up, though she, herself, was rather shaky.

"Is it over? Did we get 'em?"

"Yes, all dead," Bella said cheerfully. "We go plane now."

They all walked together toward the door. Jacob and Nessa held onto one another, though who was supporting whom was a matter of debate. _Never mix elvish sleeping powder with booze,_ Jacob thought. He felt as loopy as hell.

"We're going to find our own way back to the airport," Edward said. "We'll meet you there in about an hour." He and Bella vanished into the night and Jacob thought he heard Bella call, "Catch me!" as she ran.

They passed a little bed of flowers beside the door, carefully tended plants, as though the elves could not bear to remain here without some hint of nature around them. For a moment, Jacob's heart ached with regret. It was terrible to have to kill such creatures, especially with so few of them left in the world, but Jinx had set in motion something deadly, something that might not be under his control any longer. A war was brewing, unless they could stop it. But like Bella's rain, could it be stopped once it had been called into being?

"How badly are you hurt?" Jacob asked Nessa. "Do we need to take you to a doctor?"

Nessa shook her head. "Edward asked me the same thing. You guys are a lot alike in some ways."

He let that pass without comment. "Do you need something for your face? An ice-pack or some aspirin?"

"I'll get something on the plane."

"Nessa, did they ... Did they ... hurt you?" He couldn't even say it.

"No."

He let out a sigh of relief. It sounded loud in the stillness, echoing off the walls of the empty buildings around them.

"They tried to get me to tell them things about Bella," Nessa said. "They slapped me around a little when I wouldn't tell them what they wanted to know."

It looked like more than 'a little' to Jacob.

"They grabbed me right outside of the hotel. They must have been watching us."

"Yeah, they pretty much said they were when they called Rose to make their demands."

"How did you find me?"

"Edward did something or other with the computer," Jacob said, and thankfully she seemed to accept that explanation. He didn't really want to tell her about the chip. He'd have to, if she asked, but he didn't want to offer the information. There was something else, more important, that he needed to say, but he couldn't find the words. "Nessa, I ..."

"I know," she said. She stopped and laid a gentle hand over his heart. "I know."

Did she? He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say. She gnawed on her lower lip, as though considering something, and then went up on tiptoe to press her soft, warm lips to his.


	26. Chapter 26

.

~.~

Chapter Twenty-six

~.~

Edward paused and sniffed the air, searching for Bella's scent in myriad scents carried on the breeze. He stepped off the building and dropped lightly to the ground and headed down the alley, his eyes sweeping the shadows. The predator in him reveled in these "hunts."

_There!_ He caught a faint whiff of spice and searched for its source. A soft giggle made him look up and he found Bella on the fire escape above. He crouched and jumped, but put too much power behind it, still unused to his strength. He had to grab the rail of the fire escape to keep from soaring past it. He swung lightly onto the platform and stalked toward Bella.

Her eyes were heated as she retreated. Her back pressed against the ladder that led to the emergency exit on the floor above. Edward grinned as he lifted her and sat her down on the fourth rung, the perfect height for what he intended. She laid her hands on his shoulders for balance as Edward pushed up her skirt, his lips following the retreating hem. She moaned when he opened his mouth and traced the point of a fang lightly along her skin to the apex of her thighs. He pressed a kiss above her femoral artery before he nicked the skin with the tip of a fang and lapped at the tiny drop of blood that welled up. Bella released his shoulders and buried her hands in his soft burnt umber hair.

A sound made both of them freeze. In the alley below, a door banged open and a man shoved a woman out of the door. One hand gripped the back of her neck, while the other pressed close to the front of her throat. The woman's breath came in short, terrified hitches. She was tall and slender, with mahogany skin and curly black hair. The man behind braced his forearm across the back of her neck, grinding her face into the brick wall in front of her. Above her tear-streaked cheeks, her eyes were wide and terrified. Edward saw the lethal silver gleam of a blade pressed against her throat. The man holding it was short and stocky and his face was stretched in a gleeful grin, enjoying the woman's terror as he fumbled with their clothes.

Edward didn't even pause to think about it. He spun around and dropped off the fire escape behind the man and grabbed the hand holding the knife, to wrench it away from the woman's throat. He'd forgotten his strength again and the man's wrist shattered with a wet snap, but Edward didn't feel sorry in the slightest. The attacker let out a bleating screech of agony and fell to his knees. The woman stumbled away, her hand clasped to her neck where a thin trickle of blood leaked from under her fingers.

"Let me see," Edward said gently. He tugged away her hand and the woman allowed it. She was shaking. The scent of blood hit him like a fist, but he was able to fight off the beast within him. He licked his finger and touched it lightly to the wound to seal it.

"It's just a scratch," Edward told her. He hated the fear and vulnerability in her eyes. He captured her mind and a jumble of images flashed though his thoughts. This woman was confident and strong and it tore at his heart to see that bold spirit battered by her attacker. He said firmly, "You'll be _fine_. You're stronger than this. He can't break you."

The woman blinked and straightened her shoulders. She glanced down at her attacker and gave him a sharp kick in the side, her lip curled in disgust.

"Go on home now." Edward watched as the woman walked from the alley, her head held high.

Bella had dropped down from the fire escape while he spoke to the woman. Her eyes were cold and hard as she grabbed him by his collar and stared down into his terrified eyes. "Kill him," Bella said and dropped him back down to the pavement. "Have you seen what was in his mind? What he has done? What he intended to do to that girl when he was finished with her? He deserves to die."

Edward was glad he had not. He could guess and he was glad he didn't have those horrific images in his mind. He considered for a moment. "I have a better idea."

* * *

><p>Nessa had trouble climbing the steps to the plane, so Jacob scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the cabin. He nodded at a surprised-looking Rose and Emmett as he passed, heading back to the bedroom in the back. He shifted Nessa into one arm and used his free hand to tug down the blanket and sheet before depositing her on the bed.<p>

The room wasn't large, with just enough room for the king-sized bed and the night table on either side. The windows had been covered with hick, heavy curtains, the edges plastered down with tape until a better solution could be found for ensuring that not even a shred of sunlight could pass.

Jacob turned on one of the lamps that were bolted to the night tables. It cast a warm, golden glow that caught the fiery glints in Nessa's hair. Jacob was momentarily mesmerized by it, but he shook himself. "I'll be right back," he said, and headed up to the flight attendant's galley. No one was there, so he helped himself to a towel and a handful of ice that he put into a plastic baggie.

Emmett followed him, leaning against the narrow doorway. "She okay?" he asked.

"I think so," Jacob replied. He used the bottom of a glass to pound the ice cubes into smaller pieces. "Just a bit bruised and shaken-up, I think."

"Edward and Bella?"

Jacob snorted. "Probably indulging in some wild post-feeding vampire sex, I'd imagine. They said they'd join us in an hour." He wrapped the baggie of crushed ice in a towel and waited for his brother to move aside so he could pass.

Emmett hesitated. "Listen, Jake ..."

"Yeah?"

"You care about Nessa."

"I do." That much was probably obvious.

"Like I care about Rose," Emmett added. "I knew it when I saw how upset you were when she was gone. Because I'd feel the same way if someone took my Rose."

Jacob almost dropped the ice pack. He knew he wasn't the most self-reflective guy, but could it be possible he felt that deeply and just didn't recognize it for what it was?

Emmett looked as though he was about to say something more, but thought the better of it. He clapped Jacob on the shoulder and left, and resumed his seat beside Rose. Jacob couldn't meet his brother's eyes as he passed. His mind was a tumbled whirl of thoughts. The helpless fear and rage he'd felt when Nessa was taken, the pain he'd felt at the thought of her being hurt, the joy and elation he had experienced when he found her ... Could those be an indication that he ... Jacob shook his head. He probably wasn't even _capable_ of loving someone.

He opened the bedroom door and gently laid the towel-wrapped bag of ice against Nessa's bruised face.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome." Jacob reached out to brush her hair back from her eyes but thought the better of it and dropped his hand to his side. "I ... uh ... I'll let you rest now." He headed for the door.

"Jake? Please, don't go." Nessa's voice was soft, and her eyes pleaded with him. "Please, stay?"

Jacob hesitated only a moment before he nodded. He'd rather be in here with her anyway, but he'd thought she'd want some time alone to process what had happened to her.

She patted the bed beside her and Jacob crawled into it from the propped a pillow against the headboard and leaned back against it, careful not to brush up against her. Nessa had no qualms. She rolled over and laid her uninjured cheek on his shoulder. He hesitated for only a moment before wrapping his arms around her. He closed his eyes, absorbing the feeling of her warm, soft body tucked against his own. It felt good. It felt _right._

It was a few moments before she spoke, as if she, too were relishing the feeling. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For coming to get me. I wasn't sure ..."

"You thought I'd just leave you there?" Jacob knew he wasn't worthy of her, but hurt a little that her opinion of him was apparently so low she thought he would abandon her.

Nessa chewed on her lower lip. "I know that ... I know you guys didn't want me here in the first place and I've been pushing myself on you." She said the last few words in such a rush that Jacob had to mentally parse them out before he could respond. Her face was scarlet, but she met his eyes levelly.

"Nessa, no, you haven't been 'pushing' yourself on me." He paused for a moment, considering how to proceed. "I'm attracted to you, Nessa. And I like you. I like you enough that I don't want to see you throw yourself away on a guy like me."

"You keep saying that." Nessa's voice was irritable. "There's nothing wrong with you, Jake. Nothing you couldn't change if you wanted to."

"You don't understand. I'm trying to tell you I'm not relationship material, and you're not the kind of girl to have a purely physical fling. I've never really had a relationship before. You know, like, a relationship with ... feelings and stuff." The last words came out so lamely that Jacob felt like blushing himself.

"And I've never had a physical relationship," Nessa said. "So we're both branching into new territory. Jesus, Jake. Just because you haven't done something before doesn't mean you _can't_."

"I'm afraid I'll hurt you," he confessed. "I'm an asshole, Nes, selfish and inconsiderate. I know it, but I'm not entirely sure how to change it. You deserve to have a great guy, someone who will treat you right. Not a selfish prick who might also be an -" He cut off abruptly and took a deep breath. "I think I may be an alcoholic."

Nessa nodded. "I thought so."

"Then why the hell would you want to be with me?" He wondered if she was one of those girls who were so used to being treated badly that they subconsciously sought out men who would continue the pattern.

"Because I'm not looking for someone perfect, Jake. If I was, I'd be alone for the rest of my days because I'll never find someone who doesn't have flaws. All I'm looking for is someone I can love, flaws and all."

"You could love me?" The idea was startling.

"I ... um ... I'm pretty sure I already do."

"Can you ... stop?"

She chuckled. "No, I don't think I can."

Whatever his other flaws, Jacob had never been disingenuous. "I feel something for you, too, Nes," he confessed. "I'm not sure what it is, but I know I've never felt this way before."

She reached over and took his hand in her own. "We'll find out together."

* * *

><p>Detective Eric Yorkie <em>hated<em> typing, but his department didn't have a secretary. All of them were responsible for typing up their own reports and for him, it was a lengthy, laborious process. He searched for the next letter and tapped it, then squinted at the screen to determine the next one he needed. Same letter, but he'd already lost it and had to find it again. He sighed and rubbed his dry, strained eyes. This was why his reports were always late, always short with a minimum of detail, and usually lacking in correct punctuation. His superiors had always bitched about it but he figured if they wanted better, they could do it themselves.

"Detective Yorkie?"

He glanced up. A short, stocky man stood in front of his desk, looking down at him expectantly.

"Yeah, I'm Yorkie. What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to confess."

Yorkie blinked. That was one he hadn't encountered before. "Confess to what?"

"Kidnapping, rape and murder of eleven women." The man said it with the same serenity as someone confessing to forgetting to put more money into a parking meter.

Yorkie gaped at him for a long, endless moment. Hollywood movies to the contrary, serial killers were very rare and he'd never heard of one just strolling in off the street to confess. Yorkie was suddenly grateful that he wasn't married or he'd be worried about getting a UPS delivery of a head in a box right about now. Yorkie yanked open his desk drawer and fumbled until he found his tape recorder. He laid it on the desk and clicked it on. He recited his name and the date. "You've come in here voluntarily to confess?" he prompted. "Are you sure you don't want to speak to an attorney?"

"Quite sure." The man took a seat in the plastic chair in front of Yorkie's desk and withdrew a paper from his pocket. "I had to write them down," he said, his tone slightly apologetic. "Let's see ... Starting in December of 1988 ..." He began to list a series of victims, sometimes with names, other times with just general descriptions and locations.

Yorkie took notes, in part so he wouldn't have to look at the guy. Disgust churned his his gut as he listened to what this monster had done to women all over the country for the past thirty years. He wasn't sure he would have been able to keep his expression impassive. His knuckles were white and he clutched his pen so tightly, he was afraid it would snap under the pressure from his fingers. And he was a little disappointed, too. He'd love to help prosecute this guy, but none of the crimes had occurred in Yorkie's jurisdiction. The killer's fate would be in the hands of the FBI and the states where he had committed his crimes. Yorkie's task would be only to inform them he had a confession and to extradite the guy to the proper authorities.

The killer finally consulted the paper one last time and then gave a satisfied nod before he handed it over. "Oh!" he said, suddenly remembering. "One last name. Tanya Denali."

* * *

><p>Edward and Bella ran toward the airport, hand-in-hand. If they didn't hurry, they were going to be late. They had gotten a little ... distracted by one another after they'd found and shared a meal. Edward found something incredibly erotic about watching Bella drink and he hadn't been able to resit drawing her off to a secluded spot. He wondered how it was possible that it got better every time, but he had an eternity to find out.<p>

He smelled them before he saw them. He and Bella spun around to see the line of vampires who stepped out of the shadows behind them, and then whirled to face the ones in the front, the sides, as they were surrounded by a slowly decreasing circles. Edward put his arms around Bella and cursed his stupidity in sending their weapons back with Jacob. But they hadn't been expecting this. But even if they'd been armed, there were simply too many of them. Bella was a hell of a warrior, but even she could not take on more than a dozen vampires at once.

A tiny blonde girl, as small and delicate-looking as a child, stepped forward and gave Bella a small bow. "Greetings to you, Dark Goddess," she said in English.

Bella didn't answer. her eyes flicked around the group, searching for a weakness, searching for a way out. A strong breeze rose around them. Edward wasn't sure if she was doing it intentionally or if it was a result of her anxiety. "Who are you?" Edward demanded.

"I am Jane, head of security for Queen Victoria. And this ..." She waved a hand around at the vampires who were silently appraising Edward and Bella. "... This is the Volturi."

* * *

><p>AN: I apologize both for your long wait and for the brevity of this chapter. I've been neck-deep in the final edits of my book, which has occupied all of my time. You can check out its page on Goodreads: www dot goodreads dot com/book/show/15705459-ghostwriter

Also, the last _Written in the Stars_ outtake will be posted tomorrow, and I'm writing a _Selkie Wife_ sequel for Fandom 4 LLS. See my blog for further info and an excerpt at lissabryan dot blogspot dot com.

Thank you for your patience, and as always, for your kind and thoughtful reviews.


	27. Chapter 27

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~.~

Chapter Twenty-seven

~.~

The circle of vampires got smaller, closing in around them until they stood silently, shoulder to shoulder, forming a wall that surrounded Edward and Bella. Their dark, heavy robes swayed in the wind. Their scent set off alarm bells in Edward's instincts. They smelled _old. _They smelled powerful. His new instincts screamed at him to flee and get his mate as far away from the threat as possible, for he would not be able to protect her from them. He tried to step in front of Bella, but she pushed him back behind her. They had a brief momentary struggle over who would protect whom until the little blond girl spoke again and they both froze in their places.

"We mean no harm to you or your mate, Goddess." Jane's voice was sweet and light, like the chirping of spring birds. Edward put his arms around Bella and drew her tightly against his body. He would shield her with his own flesh, if nothing else.

"What you want?" Bella asked, and lightning forked across the sky. A few of the Volturi looked up uneasily.

"We have come to escort you to the Queen, Goddess." Jane bowed her head respectfully, but Bella's eyes narrowed.

"We go when I want." Bella's words were cold and clipped and she looked at Jane as though wondering if it was worth the effort to squish her like a bug.

"I do not wish to offend you, Goddess, but it must be now." Jane nodded to one of the Volturi, who stepped froward and reached for Edward's arms.

Bella flicked her hand and the man was jerked skyward as though by an invisible rope. One of his cohorts jumped and tried to grasp his ankles, as though to tug him down, but Bella waved a finger and he soared over to the opposite side of the circle. He dangled there, his eyes wide and bright with terror as his arms pinwheeled and his legs kicked against the hems of his robes.

Bella tilted her head back and stared up at him. "You touch my Edwurr, I rip off your head." Her voice was flat with menace and she glanced around at the others to include them in this threat. "I burn you with _zzzzt_."

"With what?" Jane asked. She did not seem alarmed by the levitating Volturi. She looked mildly curious and a little impressed.

"_Zzzt_," Bella repeated and sliced her other hand through the air. As if on command, a sharp crack of lightning shot through the clouds. "_Parr_."

Edward had to suppress a smile, remembering that he'd told her it was a perfectly acceptable pronunciation of "power" in some areas of the country. From the slightly confused looks the Volturi exchanged, they didn't understand.

"I burn you where you stand." Bella opened her hand and the struggling man fell to the pavement and scrambled back like a crab scurrying for the safety of a rock. Another crack and blinding flash of lightning and the Volturi jumped, exchanging uneasy looks. This was apparently not going as they had expected. Only one of them remained unfazed. His eyes were as black as his hair and he stared at Bella with undisguised malice.

Jane bowed to Bella again. "We will not harm your mate, Goddess, but you must come with us."

Bella turned to Edward and said in Quechua, "If I killed them all, do you think it would make the problem worse?"

Did she really think she could? It certainly seemed she did. Edward was not as confident. He had seen how fast their kind could move and there were simply too many of them. In a split second, they could both be torn apart, before Bella even had a chance to react. He gauged his words carefully because if they were going to survive this situation, it wouldn't be because she took on the Volturi here and now. "I think that it probably would. These are the Queen's elite guard. She likely thinks of them as you thought of the priests who used to serve you."

Bella flinched slightly at the comparison, but continued. "It may make her understand that I will not be intimidated."

"She may not see it that way. She may see it as a declaration of war." He watched Bella's face avidly as she thought it over. Desperation lent an edge to his voice as he added, "Bella, if she decides on war, it won't be only you and I who face it. Jacob, Emmett, Rose and Nessa will be targets as well. We won't be able to protect them." _And I won't be able to protect you. Please, Bella ..._

She considered for a moment and then turned to Jane. "Okay. We go with you. Maybe I make Queen understand if I talk at her."

Edward wasn't sure it would be that easy, but at least Jacob, Emmett and Rose would be far away from the conflict.

Jane gave another small bow. "Very good, Goddess. If you would, please follow me."

The man Bella had levitated stepped forward. A pair of thick, silver-colored cuffs jangled in his hand and he reached again for Edward's arm. Bella whipped her hand in his direction as though she were throwing something at him and the world disappeared in a flash of white-blue light. When his eyes cleared, Edward saw an empty robe puddled on the ground at his feet, atop a small pile of ash.

"I warned you," Bella said.

The Volturi took a collective step back. They looked at Bella. Looked at the pile of ash. Looked at Bella again. They took another simultaneous step back, and Jane cleared her throat. They glanced at her and resumed their impassive demeanor, but Edward saw shaking hands hidden in the folds of dark robes.

"Restraints will not be necessary," she said. "Follow me, please, Goddess, Lord Edward."

There was that mysterious title again. Jane must have seen the hint of confusion on his face because she offered an explanation. "It's because she is a very old and powerful vampire. Not an Ancient, for that title belongs only to vampires older than a thousand years, but she is one of the Elders and you are her mate."

Edward nodded to show he understood and took Bella's hand in his own. Though he knew it offered her no protection, it made him feel slightly better.

The Volturi fell into rows around them, marching as precisely as a military parade. None of them looked at Edward or Bella_._

"Where you take us?" Bella asked.

"We have a plane waiting at a private airfield," Jane replied.

"Edwurr has plane," Bella said. "Why we not take Edwurr plane?"

Jane hesitated for a moment. "It will be more comfortable for all of us if we take the Queen's jet."

Edward squeezed Bella's hand lightly and hoped she would not insist. She glanced at him and nodded and he pressed a quick kiss to her temple.

He took his cell phone from his pocket and tossed it into a trashcan as they passed. Jacob wasn't good with computers and he didn't think he'd be able to use the signal tracking program, but Rose was, and it was better to be safe. He didn't want Jacob to try to stage a rescue. It was just the sort of damn-fool thing Jake would do, and the thought made him smile a little. Jacob had always had far more bravery than sense. With any luck, they'd already be in the air before their friends realized they were late. He just hoped his pilot would refuse to fly without Edward on board. By the time they figured out what had happened and managed to get a commercial flight to Italy, it might all be over.

The Volturi brought them to a set of limousines idling in a parking lot and they climbed inside. Bella was her usual curious self, poking at buttons and exploring cubbyholes and Edward smiled again, though it was tinged with sadness. She didn't seem to realize that this was probably the end, but he was glad of that. Let her enjoy the time she had left.

He laid his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. He doubted that they would ever leave Italy, one way or the other. His mind drifted to the practicalities: He'd written his will years ago, leaving a few million to Jacob and the rest to charity. He rubbed his temples. Jacob was going to take this hard. He only hoped it didn't send him into a spiral of depression and drinking. But maybe Nessa could help him through it. He didn't think Jacob realized yet how deeply she cared for him.

He slipped the small notepad he always carried out of his pocket and scribbled a brief message. He tore it out and folded the paper in half. He wrote Jacob's name and address on it before he held it out to Jane. She took it from him, blinking, her brow crumpled in confusion.

"I'm asking you for a favor," Edward said. He met her eyes squarely. "I'm asking that you send this ... after."

He was surprised to see compassion in her eyes. Jane nodded and slipped the note into her pocket.

"Are you registered?"

The voice had come from the man seated directly across from him, the one who had stared at Bella with such malice. He fit the stereotypical appearance of a vampire so much that Edward had to wonder if it was intentional. His hair was coal-black, framing a paper-white face with lips so red that Edward wondered if he was wearing lipstick.

"Aro!" Jane said sharply.

Aro flicked his black eyes at Jane. "It's a simple question." He repeated it to Edward slowly, a hint of a smile lending his words a strange menace. "Are. You. Registered?"

Edward shook his head.

Aro smirked. "Didn't you know that all fledglings are required to be registered within forty-eight hours of their creation?"

Edward didn't reply. He turned his head and stared out at the darkened city.

"Aro, shut the fuck up," Jane barked.

"We could kill you," Aro continued, as though he hadn't heard her. "You and your creator." Aro slid his eyes over to Bella, who had discovered the sun roof and was currently balanced on tiptoe so she could stick her head through it. "We show mercy because the Queen has a soft heart, but by Council law, we have the power to condemn you if you are too dangerous. And I happen to think that you are."

Bella ducked down from the sunroof and smiled at Edward. "You want me kill him?" Her tone was as casual as though she were offering to pick up the dry cleaning on the way home from work.

Edward struggled to suppress a grin. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary.."

"You sure? It no trouble." She met Aro's hostile gaze with a sweet smile.

"You can _try,_" he spat.

Jane groaned. "Aro, I swear to God that if you don't stop antagonizing her, I'll leave you here."

Aro crossed his arms and glared at Bella in silence. Bella ignored him, as though he weren't important enough to attract her notice, which only seemed to make Aro angrier. She curled her legs up on the seat and laid her head on Edward's chest. He clasped his arms around her. As he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, he reflected that the Queen never had been the danger. It was the people around her.

* * *

><p>"I don't understand this," Jacob said. He paced the small aisle between the seats and checked his watch again. Edward and Bella should have been here over an hour ago and his anxiety was increasing by the minute.<p>

"You know how Edward is," Emmett said. "He's probably sitting on a bench somewhere, writing equations on a napkin. And he's a vampire now. Their kind get easily distracted."

"Even if Edward wandered off on a tangent, Bella knows we were leaving. She'd get him back on track. What really worries me is that he's not answering his phone. That's not like him."

Emmett shrugged. "Maybe they're ... you know ... in the middle of something."

"He might ignore it if the phone rang once, but not if someone kept calling," Jacob insisted.

"Maybe he turned it off. Or lost it. It could be a hundred things, Jake."

"I think Jacob's right," Nessa interjected. Jacob cast her a grateful smile. "With everything that's been happening, we can't ignore any signs they may be in trouble."

"But Bella's, like, this all-powerful Super Vamp," Emmett protested. "Faster than a speeding bullet? No ass she can't kick?"

"No one is unbeatable, Emmett." God, Jacob hoped he was wrong about this, but he had a cold tingle in his gut that told him something was wrong. Really wrong.

Rose had already opened Edward's laptop. She dialed her cell phone and laid it down on the table, pecking at the keys. It was so quiet on the plane that Jacob could hear Edward's voicemail pick up after the fourth ring. He'd never recorded a greeting message, so the computer voice recited his number. "Got it. He didn't have a tracking chip, so I couldn't pinpoint it precisely, but I was able to triangulate the signal to a two block area downtown."

"You're a genius, Rose," Jacob said, and beside her, Emmett beamed as though the compliment had been directed at him.

On the way out of the plane, Jacob tapped on the cockpit door and informed the confused pilot that they had to "run an errand." If the pilot wondered what sort of errand called for the participants to be armed with shotguns and swords, he didn't ask. He merely nodded and said that he would inform the tower that their departure would be delayed and retreated back into the cabin.

Jacob hid the shotgun behind his back as best he could as they climbed into the cab waiting for them outside. Rose sat on Emmett's lap to make room, but she was so tall she had to crane her neck to the side, her ear pressed against the roof of the car. Jacob stared at the speedometer during the entire trip, biting back the urge to yell at the cabbie to drive faster. They guy kept it two miles under the speed limit at all times.

Despite the leisurely speed, they arrived at the location within fifteen minutes. Jacob shoved a wad of money through the driver's window without bothering to check the denomination and from the effusive thanks the cabbie shouted at him as they took off down the alley, he had grossly overpaid, but he didn't care. His mind was on Edward and Bella.

Rose held the laptop on one hand, like a waitress balancing a tray of drinks. She typed with the other, frowning at the screen. "To the right," she said, and they followed her down the alleys, sometimes having to double back when the signal got weaker, like a game of Hot and Cold. Jacob kept dialing Edward's phone so it would ping off the towers and it wasn't the computer that finally identified its location. He heard it ringing from the trash can and ran over to paw through the garbage until he located it. Jacob stared at the phone as though it might reveal what had happened.

That cold sensation in his gut grew. There was only one reason Edward would throw his phone away.

"Hey, guys, check this out!" Emmett called. Rose closed the unneeded laptop and they followed the sound of Emmett's voice to a street corner, where he stood, pointing down to a puddle of black on the sidewalk in front of him. They crouched down to examine it more closely and Rose picked up the pile of cloth. It straightened out into a black robe and ash tumbled from its folds.

"Volturi," Rose and Nessa said simultaneously.

"Are - Are you sure?" Jacob rasped. His throat felt like he'd drank a cup of sand.

Rose nodded and dropped the robe back to the sidewalk.

"They only wear the robes for important occasions," Nessa said and her voice was so soft that Jacob had to strain to hear it. "Usually, they just wear their ordinary clothes, but when they're sent out on a mission, like retrieving an Ancient or ..."

"Or what?"

"... Passing judgement."

Jacob's breath left him in a whoosh, as though he had been punched in the gut. And that's what it felt like. "The Queen ...?"

"I doubt she sent them to hurt Bella," Nessa said quickly. "Likely, they were just sent to bring her to Italy and they wore the robes as a sign of respect for her status."

"But something happened," Emmett said, his eyes on the small pile of ash that was scattering in the light breeze.

"Yes, something happened." When Nessa met Jacob's eyes, her own were full of sorrow.

"What do we do now?" Jacob said. "Can we stop them? Track them down somehow?"

Nessa shook her head. "You're talking about some of vampire-kind's most powerful warriors. We can't fight them. Our only option is to go to directly to Italy. I'll try to get in to see the Queen. Maybe if we hurry, we can beat them there."

It didn't offer Jacob much hope. His best friend's life was dependent upon the mercy of a woman he didn't know, a woman whose rule was under direct assault by those who wanted to put Bella in her place. He wasn't a praying man, but he sent up a request to whomever might be listening.

.

* * *

><p>Apologies again for the delay in getting out the next chapter for you. The edits on my first novel are done, but I've been plunged right into the editing of the second. Thank you for your patience.<p> 


	28. Chapter 28

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~.~

Chapter Tweny-eight

~.~

The Queen's plane turned out to be just as comfortable as Edward's, though hers was larger, nearly the size of a 747. All of the windows had been walled over and as the sun rose over the Atlantic, some of the Volturi curled up on the sofas and armchairs to sleep. Edward tried to fight it, but the darkness sucking him under was too powerful.

"Sleep, my love" Bella told him in Quechua, and ran her hand through his hair. "You need it. We're safe for now."

But that safety could vanish in an instant. They both knew that. Bella wriggled around until she had Edward's head pillowed on her lap. He was still fighting to try to stay awake, forcing his eyes open between long, slow, sleepy blinks. She hummed to him as he lost his battle with the daysleep. She smiled down at him tenderly. Her valiant warrior, her Chosen, her everything.

She looked up and saw Jane watching her with an expression of sadness mingled with longing. She smiled slightly at Bella, though it seemed like it was an effort for her to quirk up the corners of her lips. "You are a fortunate woman, Goddess."

Bella looked back down at Edward. "Yes, am." She glanced back up at Jane and wondered if she had ever experienced love. Whomever had changed her had not waited until the girl was mature. If she were a human, Bella would judge her to be too young for marriage, but now she was frozen for eternity at that age.

Jane seemed to understand the direction of Bella's thoughts."I'll never have what you have." She said it without resentment, but there was a hint of wistfulness in her words. "There aren't any other vampires of my apparent age. If I dated an adult, he would be seen as a creep, and there's no way I could endure dating a fourteen year old boy. But it's all right. I like being single. I guess I was changed too young to have those kind of ... you know ... _urges._"

Bella pitied her. Jane might have no desire for the flesh, but everyone wanted to be loved. "Who change you?"

Jane sat back in her seat. "I never knew his name. It's been nearly five hundred years, and I've never seen him since, so he may not exist any longer, or perhaps he's gone into hibernation as you did."

"Why he do?"

"He didn't mean to. I was being sent to my husband's summer home when the vampire attacked our wagon train."

_Husband!_ Bella was repulsed. Her people did not marry until the parties involved were fully grown. No wonder poor Jane wasn't interested in passion.

Jane gave her another small smile. "It was common in my day for people of my social class. It was the best thing to come of my 'death'. It freed me from my husband."

"Why vampire attack you?"

Jane shook her head. "I don't know. I suppose I'll never know. Perhaps he was starving or it could be that he was merely mad with bloodlust."

"But he change you?"

"Not intentionally," Jane said. She twisted a ring on her right hand. "I fought back as best I could, biting and scratching. I must have somehow ingested his blood. I woke up the net day in the cave where he'd piled the bodies of my servants."

"I sorry," Bella told her. "I changed by last Goddess when I drink from bowl."

Jane seemed startled. "They didn't kill you afterward?"

_What a strange question_, Bella thought. "No, why?"

Jane shuddered. "You died of the virus? That's a horrifying way to go."

Bella had no idea what Jane meant by "virus," but from Jane's expression she knew Jane meant that Bella had died when her body had transformed too much to be human any longer. "It was ... way of doing," Bella said, and was frustrated she couldn't think of the right word to express the concept. "How it always done." She glanced down at Edward and brushed the hair from his forehead.

"We always end the person's life after they've drank. That way, the worst of it happens while they're Under. The change is bad enough after you wake, let alone going through the whole thing. I'm amazed it didn't drive you insane."

"I not remember much." She tried to think of a way to explain that the pain and suffering of the change cleansed away all that was mortal and imperfect, as fire transforms metal from a pitted stone to a gleaming blade. But the words would not come and Bella supposed it wasn't important anyway.

"Thank God for small mercies," Jane said. She paused for a moment, as though mulling over her words like a woman walking across a creek by hopping on slippery stones. "Goddess, I want to tell you that I'm sorry about this."

Bella simply looked at her.

Jane licked her lips before continuing. "I know this isn't your fault. It's not the Queen's fault, either, honestly. Both of you have been pushed into this by others with their own agendas. But it has to end. It has to end now. I think you know that."

Bella nodded. One way or the other, it did have to end. She looked down at Edward and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Edward opened his eyes and Bella's face was the first thing he saw. He smiled at her and sat up. All around the cabin, those Volturi who had slept were doing the same. Edward noticed that the roar of the engines was absent at the same time as Bella said, "We've arrived. We were waiting for the sun to go down before we disembark."<p>

Edward ran his hands through his hair in an effort to smooth it down and only made the problem worse. Bella tried combing it with her fingers and giggled at the way it sprang back up defiantly. The sound made his heart ache a little. There was a chance he might never hear it again. He kissed her smiling lips. _Oh, Bella, I love you so ..._

"Goddess?" Jane said and bowed to Bella. "Our car is waiting."

Bella nodded and took Edward's hand in her own. They followed Jane down the aisle and outside onto the metal stairs which led down to the tarmac. The breeze caught Bella's hair and lifted it in a dark halo around her face as she looked back over her shoulder at Edward. She had never looked more beautiful than at that moment, he thought. It was an image he wanted to engrave in his mind and heart.

Four limousines idled in a neat row, and, as though a signal had been given, the identically-dressed drivers opened the doors in perfect synchronization. Bella and Edward followed Jane and Aro into the back seat of the car heading the line. They sat in silence as the driver climbed behind the wheel and put the car in drive. Bella frowned and sniffed the air and Edward followed her lead. The scent inside the car seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it.

The car turned out of the airport onto the freeway. Edward stared out of the window, marveling at the sharpness of his vision. Even at almost seventy miles per hour, the scenery did not blur as they passed. He could pick out each individual blade of grass, each leaf, each pebble on the shoulder, unhampered by the darkness.

"Not long now." Aro broke the lengthy silence and gave Edward a nasty grin.

Jane glared at him. "Aro, what did I tell you?"

Aro ignored her. "It's too bad you didn't react to my earlier antagonism, Bella. You made me do this the hard way."

"Do _what_ the hard way?" Jane demanded. "I have no idea what's up with you, Aro, but you need to -"

"I know exactly what I need to do," Aro interrupted. He reached down between the seat and the door and drew out a short sword with one fluid, quicksilver motion. Jane didn't have time time to react before he swung it with brutal speed and Jane's head landed in front of her seat, a split second before it crumbled into ash. Edward watched in fascinated horror as her skin turned gray and disintegrated into a fine, powdery ash, just a little pile of it strewn amid the folds of her empty robes.

Aro had swung so hard that the blade buried itself in the seat. He struggled to pull it out as it seemed to catch on something.

There was a sudden squall of rubber on asphalt as the semi truck in the lane to their left swerved into the lane behind them, cutting off the limo following them. It had to slam on its brakes to avoid being crushed by the swinging trailer. From behind, the next limo slammed into the back of the one which stopped and ramped over it, landing on its side. Pebbled glass coughed across the asphalt and cars swerved wildly to avoid the accident, nearly creating more of them.

Their driver of Bella and Edward's limo cut the wheel hard to take an exit ramp at the last possible second and the semi slid in behind them, slamming on the brakes to block off the mouth of the exit ramp so no cars could follow them.

"Well, that was exciting," Aro commented.

Bella's hands flew up, but nothing happened. She blinked at them and Aro smirked. He hit the button which lowered the divider between the passengers and the driver. "Say hello, Brady."

_Brady, The goddamn null_, Edward thought. The familiar scent. He cursed himself for not figuring it out earlier, but the last time he'd smelled it, he was in the process of dealing with his overwhelming new senses and hadn't made note of it.

Bella didn't wait to see what Aro had in store for them. Using the center console as leverage, she grabbed Edward and rammed them through the passenger door.

_Oh, shit, this is going to hurt,_ Edward thought and tried to wrap himself around Bella as much as possible to protect her as they slammed into the pavement. The world spun in wild circles and he thanked God that the semi had blocked off any cars from following them up the ramp or they would have been hit as they tumbled down the road. They skidded to a halt and Bella was up in a flash. Both of them had red, raw patches where skin had been scraped away, but there was no time to worry about that.

The limo skidded to a halt in a cloud of burning rubber and pulled over to the side. Edward cast a glance back at it as he and Bella ran toward the treeline about a hundred yards from the road. He gave a bark of laughter when he saw that Brady had engaged the emergency flashers before he and Aro jumped out of the car to give chase.

Bella and Edward entered the woods and kept running, dodging through the trees and jumping fallen logs, faster than the human eye could see. Bella had lost a shoe in their mad tumble from the car, but she didn't seem to notice as they hurtled through the forest.

The words of a poem threaded through his mind:

_The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,_  
><em>But I have promises to keep, <em>  
><em>And miles to go before I sleep, <em>  
><em>And miles to go before I sleep.<em>

Yes, promises to keep. He had to protect Bella, somehow ...

"This way," Bella called and headed downhill toward a small, shallow creek. They ran down the center of it, their feet churning up sheets of water in their wake. He understood what she was trying to do: to throw off their scent trail the way escaped convicts in prison movies did when they were being tracked with bloodhounds.

From behind a large tree, Brady stepped into their path.

Bella pivoted and grabbed Edward's hand. They cut to the left and ran uphill. The sound of the leaves beneath their feet sounded as loud as gunshots to Edward and he knew that Brady could track them by hearing alone. They wouldn't get away like this. Desperation gave him a burst of speed and he pulled Bella along as he searched for any way out, anywhere they could go, any possible escape.

Another set of footsteps entered their range of hearing and Bella turned their path again. Edward could hear the sound of water which grew louder with every step. He crashed into Bella when she suddenly stopped and had to grab her to keep her from tumbling over the ledge. A hundred feet below them, the river into which the creek emptied gurgled over rocks. He saw Bella eye the water , but it was far too shallow for them to jump without breaking every bone in their bodies. While they'd survive it, they wouldn't heal fast enough to be mobile in time to get away.

She turned and Edward turned with her. Her hand tightened convulsively on his as they stared at Brady and Aro, standing side by side, a few yards away. Both wore smirks, as though they had intentionally driven Edward and Bella in this direction, into a trap.

"You should surrender now," Aro advised Bella. His hostility seemed to have vanished, but maybe he now saw no point in trying to antagonize her. Edward realized suddenly that Aro had hoped to start a fight in which the other Volturi would intervene, and if Bella had killed them ...

"You can't escape us. Give up peacefully and we will not harm your mate." This came from Brady, but he was grinning gleefully, as if he couldn't help it.

"Fuck you," Bella said and extended her ring finger.

Edward snickered. "No, honey, it's _this_ one." He showed her.

"You cannot fight us," Aro snapped. "You have no powers now."

Bella shrugged. "I kill you regular way."

Aro snarled and rushed at Bella, his sword raised for a downward slash at her neck. Brady charged as well, but at Edward. Bella spun out of reach of the blade and darted back in to throw a brutal kick at the side of Aro's knee. There was a sickening wet pop as it dislocated and he fell, face-first, into the leaves. But Aro was old and he was fast. He flipped over onto his back and swung his sword at Bella again, catching her across the side. She let out a short scream of pain, which made Edward lose concentration as Brady swung at him and Brady's fist brushed his nose as he just managed to jerk back out of the way in time.

One of Esme's efforts to make her son more confident and sociable had been karate classes. Edward had hated them, especially the repetitious nature of performing the same moves again and again. His instructor had assured him that "muscle memory" would take over when his brain was still trying to figure out what the hell to do. To his astonishment, Edward discovered that his instructor had been right. Edward felt his arms and legs moving, seemingly of their own volition, blocking, kicking, punching and it seemed like Edward was actually _winning_. Brady's face was smeared with blood and one of his eyes had swollen shut. Edward gave an exhilarated little laugh and Bella, engaged in her own battle, tossed him a smile as she drove her knee up into Aro's gut.

Aro fell to his knees and Bella lashed out with her foot, kicking the hand that held his sword. Aro lost his grip and it sailed up into the air. Bella caught it neatly and swung it around so that the blade rested against Aro's throat. She whistled sharply and Brady glanced over, only to freeze when he saw that his partner was vanquished. Edward took advantage of his inattention to sweep Brady's legs and send him sprawling into the leaves. Brady didn't try to rise. He and Aro exchanged a look which said that clearly each blamed the other for the predicament they found themselves in at the moment.

"Why?" Bella asked Aro. When he didn't answer, she hit him across he back of the shoulders with the flat of the sword. He groaned and fell forward, bracing himself off the ground with trembling arms. "I say you, _why?_"

"We were going to use your lover as a hostage to force you to take the throne," Brady said.

Aro shot him a glare that should have silenced him, but Brady simply smiled at him. "Don't you see?It doesn't matter any more. They can't stop it now."

Bella ignored that. "Where Jinx?"

"I don't know."

"Edward?" Bella lifted a brow in his direction and jerked her chin at Brady.

"Certainly, my love." Edward hauled Brady up by the back of his neck and struck Brady across the face so hard it made him topple over onto his side.

"I don't know!" Brady repeated, his hands held up to ward off another blow as Edward hauled him up again by the front of his shirt. His voice turned into a wheedling whine. "Please! I'd tell you if I did, I swear! We docked the next evening and we took separate flights. Jinx didn't want me to know, in case ..."'

_In case of this very situation_, Edward thought. He tossed Brady back down to the forest floor with a grimace of disgust.

"You won't escape your fate," Brady said, using the cuff of his sleeve to wipe away the blood that trickled from his nose over his lip. "It's done now. You _can't_ stop it. Even the Dark Goddess cannot fight destiny."

Bella crouched down in front of him and seized his chin in her fingers. She forced his head up and waited until he met her eyes. His were wide and bright with fearful defiance.

"I _choose_ my destiny," she said. There was a flash of silver as she swung the blade and Brady crumpled into a barely noticeable pile of ash on the forest floor.

She swung the sword casually, rotating her wrist, as she strolled back over to Aro.

"The Volturi are hunting you," he said, and his expression was almost beatific in its triumph. "They will think you caused the accident and murdered Brady and me." He laughed, a sound without humor that rang with exhilaration. "That's the beauty of this. No matter how it turned out, you would have to go to war with the Queen. The Volturi will not be coming to capture you. This time, they will try to kill you on sight. I do not think you will go gently into that good night. You will fight and the war will begin As it was meant to." His gaze softened until it became almost tender as he regarded Bella. "I understand now. You won't restore the balance by taking the throne and changing the laws. You will restore the balance in the war itself, for it will not only be the vampires in this fight."

"I not restore _anything_," Bella snapped. "I no want this."

Aro's smile only widened. "But it is yours, whether you want it or not. It is your destiny. You will be Queen, and I think, a good one."

Bella swung the sword up. "I no Queen. I am Goddess." She brought it down and Aro's ashes rained softly into the leaves that littered the ground.


	29. Chapter 29

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~.~

Chapter Twenty-nine

~.~

Jacob had been arguing with the pilot for the last twenty minutes and he was getting nowhere.

"I'm sorry," the pilot said, not sounding sorry in the least. "But if Mr. Cullen is not on board, I can't take off. This is his plane and I work for him. Without his permission -"

"And I told you, he's been kidnapped," Jacob snapped. "We're trying to go rescue him, and we're wasting precious time."

The pilot arched an eyebrow. "And I told _you_: If he's been kidnapped, why aren't you calling the cops?"

"We can't. It's not like that. Look, I can't explain it, but -"

"Jake, let's just go and see if we can get a commercial flight," Nessa urged for the third time.

Jacob felt like pulling out his hair. They kept repeating themselves, getting nowhere.

The pilot's eyes softened a little. "I _am_ sorry, Mr. Black - "

"Doctor," Emmett interrupted.

The pilot blinked. "What?"

"He's a _doctor_ not a _mister_," Emmett told him. "But not the useful kind of doctor. The geek kind."

"Uh, er ... right. Dr. Black. I am sorry, but I need this job. I can't risk losing the only income my family has. I've got a son in college."

"I'll give you five million dollars if you fly us to Italy," Rose announced.

Everyone turned to stare at her. Jacob's jaw dropped

"I'm not joking," she said. "Five million. Right here and now. That's almost twenty years' salary for you, isn't it?"

The pilot nodded, dumbstruck.

"Just fly us where Edward told you to go. You don't even need to file a new flight plan." Rose took out her phone and held a finger poised over the keys. "Do we have a deal?"

The pilot swallowed a couple of times before he found his voice. "You're really serious? _Really_?"

"Very serious. I'll call my banker right now and have the funds transferred to you. You can call your bank to confirm."

It was accomplished in a matter of minutes. Rose called her banker and chatted pleasantly for a few minutes, asking the person on the other end of the call how their kids were doing and if Mimi's sciatica was any better before asking for the funds to be transferred to the pilot's bank account. With a dazed expression, the pilot called his bank's 24 hour line and discovered that the wire transfer was waiting for the bank to open in the morning.

"Done!" Rose said cheerfully and buckled her seatbelt. "Well? Don't just stand there. Let's get going."

"Y- yes ma'am, Ms. Hale," the pilot stammered and bolted for the cockpit. Rose smirked and put her phone away.

"Where did you get five million dollars?" Emmett asked. Jacob could tell by his brother's expression that Emmett was troubled by yet another inequality between them. First her education, and now the discovery that she was rich. He made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

Rose didn't seem to notice Emmett's discomfort. "You know how they always say, 'crime doesn't pay'?"

"Yeah?"

Rose smiled. "They're_ wrong_."

Jacob settled in a seat and Nessa plopped down beside him and propped her cast up on an ottoman. Now that they had the immediate problem solved and were on their way, his other worries attacked like ravenous wolves. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the seat. The true helplessness of his situation settled over him like a pall. He couldn't save Edward and Bella; deep down, he knew that. He couldn't fight vampires nor elves and there was a very real chance that none of them would be coming back from this. For a moment, he was tempted to tell the pilot to slam on the brakes and force Rose, Emmett and Nessa out of the plane. He couldn't abandon Edward, not if he needed help, but he hated to endanger the others.

"What is it?" Nessa asked.

He opened one eye to peer at her. "Seriously?"

"Okay, dumb question."

They fell silent for a moment before Jacob confessed, "I don't know what the hell I'm doing, Ness. What I'm getting us into. We don't know what's waiting for us."

"No, but we know Edward and Bella need us. That's enough." Nessa picked up his hand and squeezed it between her own.

"I could get us all killed."

Nessa considered. "There are some things worth dying for."

Jacob stared at her. "You'd die for Edward and Bella?"

"No, for you, because you love them and it would break your heart if anything happened to them."

Jacob really didn't know how to respond to that, especially since the thought of Nessa dying was like a hot knife blade in the heart. He hoped that Nessa's friendship with the Queen would save her, even if things went as badly as he suspected they might.

_Shit_. He wished he had a drink. He wondered if the galley had any of those little bottle of liquor -

Nessa studied him for a moment. "You wanna go in the back and fool around?" Her face turned a brilliant red, though she tried to seem nonchalant.

"What?" He blinked rapidly, unsure if he'd heard her right.

She gave a little shrug. "All you're going to do otherwise is sit here and worry yourself into a heart attack. So, why not use the time more pleasantly?" She winked and pushed herself out of her seat and hobbled down the aisle toward the bedroom in the back. She paused at the door to lift an eyebrow in challenge. Her face was still red, but she looked more confident now as she opened the door and went inside.

Jacob grinned and followed her.

* * *

><p>Bella took Edward's hand in her own. "We must go," she said in rapid Quechua. "The others will come soon."<p>

"Which way?" Edward asked.

"Into the river. It's the only way to keep them from tracking our scent."

Edward stuck the sword through the back of his belt and they climbed down the cliff, gripping roots and rocks to work their way down the steep sides, feeling carefully for each handhold. The root Bella was gripping tore out of the bank and with a startled cry, she plunged down. Edward let go of the rock he was holding, caught her arm and made a desperate grab at a narrow ledge. His fingers caught the edge and for an endless, breathless moment, they dangled above the stone-covered river bed.

Bella clung to his hand, her eyes wide. He could see she was struggling not to panic, but she kept glancing down and her grip tightened to the point of pain. Edward felt his fingers slip a little on the stone ledge, but he kept himself perfectly calm as he asked her, "Can you climb?"

Bella blinked and nodded. She glanced down one more time and closed her eyes. Determination flitted over her features and she began to climb her way up his arm like a rope. Edward had always admired her courage, but now, watching her battle with fear and conquer it, he was awed. She wrapped a leg around his waist and gripped the ledge. She was shaking, but she got her arms up over it and then hauled herself up to sit on the small stone shelf. There wasn't room to sit beside her but Edward pulled himself up enough to lay his arms over it and rest his aching hands. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes." It might have been more convincing if she wasn't still shaking, but that look of determination was still on her features. Bella wouldn't let herself be anything but okay.

"Ready to go again?" He would have rather let her have time to soothe her jangled nerves, but they had to keep moving. At any time, the Volturi could descend.

Bella swallowed, but she lowered herself from the ledge to the next hand hold. Edward stayed right below her and chatted of inconsequential things to distract her, and it seemed to work. He reached the bottom and held up his arms for her and she let go to fall into them with a giggle. He kissed her smiling lips and then set off through the icy water.

"I can walk," she protested.

"Yes, but why should both of us get our feet cold?" Edward said. She had kicked off her other shoe somewhere along the way and though he knew it wouldn't harm her, he didn't like the idea of her slogging over the rocks with bare feet. The water deepened up to his knees and he hoped it didn't deepen further. He still didn't know how to swim.

_Voices._

Edward and Bella exchanged a fast look. Edward darted over to a fallen, half-submerged tree and ducked down into the water, both of them lying flat in the river bed, just as two figures in black robes appeared further up the river. The Volturi looked both directions up and down the river and Edward wished he was a praying man. If they came this way, there was no way they could hide and the others couldn't be far behind.

The Volturi discussed it but they were too distant to make out the words of their conversation over the sound of the water. Edward caught a word here and there. ... _Jane ... far ... Queen ..._ One of them started to head in the direction of Edward and Bella, but his partner grabbed his arm and shook his head, pointing up the river in the opposite direction. Their robes swirled in the water around them as they went.

They waited until the Volturi had disappeared around a bend and then Edward and Bella leapt to their feet. Edward scooped Bella up, swinging her around to position her on his back. "Hold on," he said and took off running, so fast that the water only splashed up once he had passed. He hoped he wouldn't trip, but he couldn't slow down.

He did trip when the tall man leapt at them from the bank. Edward spun out of the way and slipped Bella from his back so that he could grab the sword ... and realized it wasn't there. He must have lost it, but had no idea where or when. It had to be before he had put Bella on his back, he realized, or he would have felt the hilt when she was pressed against him.

The breeze lifted the Volturi's long blond hair into a halo around his thin face and brought his scent to Edward, the scent of a vampire, but one that smelled weak to him, despite his age. The beast inside him whispered encouragement and Edward gave into its urging. The vampire opened his mouth to shout to summon the others just as Edward slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and onto his back in the knee-deep water.

It was a vicious struggle as the vampire clawed at his arms and tried to buck him off. Edward held him down as best he could, shoving his head below the water to silence him, no mean feat in this shallow water. _A sword_, Edward thought. _My kingdom for a sword ..._

"Bella, run!" Edward ground out. He wasn't sure he could hold the vampire much longer. "Go!"

"Hell, no," Bella said. She darted up to Edward's side, a football-sized rock in her hands. She brought it down on the Volturi's head and blood swirled in the water. She brought it down again, harder, and he stopped moving. She tossed aside the rock and gripped his head, wrenching it off with a little grunt of effort. The head in her hands exploded into ash, puffing up to coat their skin and clothes before the current carried away the rest.

Bella grimaced at the pasty gray gunk covering her skin. "Ugh!" She bent to wash it off in the water, but Edward grabbed her hand. "We've got to go, honey. Come on!"

They ran for what seemed like hours, before Bella finally slowed them to a halt. "We have to find somewhere to stay. Dawn comes soon. It should be safe to leave the river now."

They picked their way through the woods, walking so carefully and silently that the wildlife did not notice their passage until they caught the scent and bolted in instinctive fear. At every sound, they froze, waiting to see if a figure in a black robe would emerge between the trees. They emerged from the woods beside a road, silent and untraveled at this pre-dawn hour.

Bella sniffed the air and pointed. "This way." He sniffed himself and caught the faint scent of a town, a combination of garbage, sewage, vehicle exhaust, chemicals and human bodies. He grimaced and vowed when this was all over, he and Bella would build a house somewhere in the woods. The forest had its own odors, of rotting vegetation and animals decaying into soil, but it smelled much better than any city he'd visited since he'd become a vampire.

Like most of Italy, the landscape around them was lovely. Farms dotted the rolling hills. Edward had always thought Italy was one of the most beautiful countries on earth, even without its duly famous architecture and art. He wished they had time to enjoy it but they were running again, racing to beat the sun to shelter.

When he was young, Carlisle had taken Edward and Esme to Italy every summer. They had distant cousins who lived here who were happy to host them a few weeks every year. Edward had happy memories of drowsy afternoon sunshine, reading in the olive groves and exploring the countryside. But after Carlisle died, Esme couldn't bear the memories this place brought back. Edward hadn't returned to Italy since.

It wouldn't be the same now, he thought, and it brought a pang of sadness. He would never again see these rolling hills in sunlight and shadow. Becoming a vampire had given him color vision, but he would never see the azure skies.

He and Bella entered a small village about an hour before sunrise. His skin was tingling in warning as the horizon lightened from the approaching sunlight. His instincts screamed at him to find cover, to dig a hole and crawl into the earth itself, if he must.

They found a little inn at the edge of town, a charming brick building mostly covered in ivy. The door was slightly off-center with a rounded top and they had to knock on it for quite some time before the sleepy inn owner came to answer their summons.

She gaped at them in shock and Edward realized they were still covered in gray ash. She began asking questions in rapid Italian, certain they must have been in an accident. Bella stepped up and captured the woman's eyes. "We normal," Bella assured her.

"Bella, she doesn't speak English. We're in Italy."

"Oh." Bella frowned. "You talk, then."

Edward felt his face flame. The woman was friendly and bold, a combination which had always sent Edward retreating into his shell, and his shyness only seemed to make her more interested. He couldn't hold the woman's eyes as he stammered out his response, and so he wasn't able to force her mind to accept what he was saying about losing their luggage. He couldn't think of an excuse for the ash so he simply pretended it wasn't there. Her questions tapered off when Edward paid her double the rate she asked to ensure they wouldn't be disturbed for the day and she showed them to their room upstairs, a simple and neat little room tucked up under the eaves. As soon as she departed, Edward took the comforter and carefully covered the window and then had to drag the wardrobe over in front of it as well before he could relax.

Bella returned from the shower, wrapped in a towel, her pale skin flecked with water and her hair in wet ropes over her back. Edward instantly forgot that they had only a few minutes before dawn, when he would conk out even in the middle of -

There was a knock at the door. Edward swore. It was the innkeeper and her arms were full of clothing. In a crisp, no-nonsense tone, she ordered Edward to hand over his clothes and went into the bathroom to retrieve Bella's. (Bella was a goddess, and goddesses apparently did not put their own clothing in the hamper. Edward or Felix always gathered up her things from wherever she'd dropped them.) Edward stripped quickly and lacking any other option, quickly grabbed a pillow to hold in front of himself for modesty's sake when she bustled back into the room. The woman didn't even blink.

"You are about the same build as my husband," she announced, and handed Edward a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt. She took the dirty clothes that Edward held out, red-faced and tongue-tied. "I'll have these washed for you by morning."

"Thank you," Edward mumbled, and forced himself to add a few words about how kind it was. She glanced at his flaming face and gave Bella a conspiratorial wink before she departed, though she cast a quick, puzzled glance at the wardrobe.

Edward dashed into the bathroom and took the shortest shower of his life. Already, he could feel the drugging pull of dawn. Bella had dressed in the t-shirt and shorts the woman had given her and she held out her arms for Edward as soon as he came back into the room. He happily went into them and she rolled over to lay her cheek on his shoulder, snuggling against him with a little sigh of contentment.

"Bella?"

"Mm?"

"What's next?"

She traced the shape of a heart on his chest. "We go to see the Queen and try to put a stop to this madness."

"It's going to be difficult to get past the Volturi," he said. And by_ difficult_, he meant _impossible. _He nuzzled his face down into the curve of her neck and inhaled deeply of her sweet, luscious scent. When the Volturi had surrounded them, he'd thought he would never have another moment such as this, and he was grateful for the gift of being able to hold her in his arms just one more time.

She turned her head to look at him and smiled gently. "Have faith, my love."

* * *

><p>The next evening, he awoke to find Bella perched on top of him, wearing nothing but a smile and the dark hair which fell around he like a curtain, almost to her hips. It hid her body; that would not do. He intended to brush it aside but found his hands wouldn't move. He glanced up and found them tied to the headboard with her t-shirt. She smirked at him and lifted a brow and he laughed. The best inside him growled and insisted that he pull himself free and reestablish his dominance, but Edward ignored him.<p>

"I'm yours," he said. "Do with me as you will."

"Mine," she whispered and lowered her face to his for a sweet, hot kiss that set his blood to boiling.

It was considerably later before they headed downstairs to the innkeeper's desk. They found their laundered clothes in a basket outside the door and deposited their borrowed garb within. Edward tucked an American hundred dollar bill inside, to thank the woman for her kindness. She expressed dismay when she saw them, that Bella had no shoes, and insisted Bella take a pair of her sandals. They were too large for Bella's tiny feet, but Bella was touched and grateful just the same. "I will send her rain!" she told Edward as they stepped outside.

Edward glanced at the sky. "Maybe later, sweetheart. We don't want to have to walk in it."

She pointed. "Let's take that car."

It was a bright yellow Porsche. Edward chuckled but he realized she was serious when she wrenched the door open and hopped into the passenger side.

"Bella! We can't steal a car!"

"Why not? We'll give it back."

Apparently, goddesses had powers like police in old cop dramas to commandeer cars whenever they saw fit. Considering their circumstances, Edward decided she was right and slid into the driver's seat. He popped the cover beneath the steering wheel and pulled out the proper wires. Bella watched with interest.

"I helped Jake rebuild his first car one summer," Edward told her. "I became very interested in the vehicle schematics." He touched two wires together and the engine started with a growl. Edward had never been particularly interested in sports cars, but he had the feeling he was going to have a lot of fun driving this one.

"Seatbelt," he reminded Bella and she hooked it over herself. "The undead do not obey speed limits." Nor did they need headlights, he discovered as he pulled out onto the road and floored the gas. Bella squealed with glee when the car shot forward, tires squalling. He grinned over at her in exhilaration. The car handled like a dream, hugging the turns and Edward finally understood the thrill of recklessness as he ramped a small hill and the car caught a few inches of air. He hollered like he was starring in the _Dukes of Hazzard_ and Bella's laughter cheered him on.

The car slid around a corner and nearly sideswiped a van and Edward had the sobering thought that he might end up hurting someone if he didn't slow down ... and then he realized the van's headlights were off as well.

The van threw on its brakes and whipped around. "Oh, shit, it's them!" he blurted.

Bella twisted around in her seat, staring out the back window. "How did they find us?"

Edward closed his eyes and thumped his fist softly on the steering wheel. He'd made the same mistake he'd made at the hotel in Catalupa: he'd used his credit card to settle up the room charges. He cursed himself for his stupidity. Rose had told him the Volturi had incredible resources at their disposal. After all, they employed people like Rose. His location had probably come up as a blinking beacon the second the innkeeper swiped his card. He hoped they wouldn't harm her. He tried to remind himself that the Volturi weren't evil and they had laws that protected humans, but at the moment, as the van loomed ominously in his rear view mirror, they certainly seemed evil.

"Go faster!" Bella cried as the van gained on them.

"I can't, Bella. The road is too narrow and curvy." The road wound around the side of a hill, dropping off steeply on the side. Edward could look out his door window and see a ravine uncomfortably close.

The van accelerated again and swung into the oncoming lane beside them Edward glanced and caught the impression of pale faces over dark robes. Bella let out a small scream of surprise as they rammed the van into the side of the Porsche. Edward fought with the wheel to regain control as the car teetered on the edge of the ravine. He slammed on the brakes and the van shot ahead. Blue smoke rose from the tires as they skidded to a stop, waiting to see what Edward would do.

"Edward, we can't stop," Bella cried. "Go!"

"They'll run us off the road."

One of the doors on the van opened.

"Go, go, go!" Bella screamed. He stomped on the accelerator and the Porsche clipped the open door as they passed because they had barely enough room to squeeze by. The vampire who had opened it jerked back just in time to avoid being hit themselves. The door dangled from the side of the van like a broken wing.

The van slammed into them from behind and the Porsche spun out. _Turn in the direction of the spin_, Edward remembered his Driver's Ed teacher saying, but it didn't seem to help. The van slammed into them again, this time t-boning into the passenger door. Bella's window shattered peppering them with stinging pebbles of glass.

The van was pushing them off the road. "_Go!_" Bella screamed again and Edward stomped on the accelerator. She wrenched the wheel to the right and they shot away from the van, tearing down the road at a breakneck speed.

There was a curve ahead and a house with a broad patio sat along the outer edge. Bella held the wheel steady, apparently not intending to turn.

"Bella, that's not a road!" Edward shouted as they bounced over the berm onto the patio, but Bella didn't even blink. The car zipped by the house and Edward saw nothing but empty air at the end of it. He had time to glance at her face and see the determination in her eyes before the car's wheels left _terra firma_, launching them out over the ravine.

He reached out and grasped her hand as the car's forward momentum stalled and it began to drop. He had a moment's regret that it was over, but then he realized they weren't losing altitude as fast as they should be. They weren't gliding, exactly, but the car was still going forward as it dropped, like a plane coming in for a landing. Bella's face was strained and he realized she was using her power to try to guide them toward the road below that wound around the opposite side of the ravine. He stared at her in awe. He had seen her move heavier weights, such as the stones she had blasted away from the tunnel under her temple, but this was incredible. The effort was visible on her features and he wished he had power of his own to offer her.

Edward stopped breathing, frozen, waiting, not daring to hope, but oh God, it looked like they might make it. They might -

The car slammed down on the side of the road and Bella sagged against her seat. They'd made it! Edward gave a disbelieving gasp of laughter - and then the car slid off its precarious perch. Stupidly, Edward stomped on the brake, but it didn't arrest the car's slide. It went sideways over the drop and rolled, impacting on the passenger side first. Edward threw his arms around Bella, as much as his seatbelt would allow and tried to protect her as they tumbled down the side. Sky, earth, sky, earth ... they crazily flashed by the windshield, which broke out the third time the roof hit the ground and Bella screamed, a terrible sound of pain and fear.

The car stopped, on its roof. Bella dangled limply, held in place by her seatbelt. Edward grasped the end of his and yanked as hard as he could. It snapped the catch and he fell out of his seat onto the roof, though there wasn't much clearance left. He crawled through the window and went around to Bella's side where he ripped off the door and snapped her belt, catching her as she dropped. "Bella? Bella?" Panic sharpened his tone. He tried to tell himself she couldn't be dead; she'd be ashes if she were, but his mind wasn't interested in logic at the moment.

She opened her eyes. "Did we make it?" she asked. Her voice was weak from exhaustion.

Such sweet relief flooded him that Edward's knees went weak and he had to lean against the wreckage of the car. The busted radiator hissed as steam escaped and he could hear air escaping the punctured tires. He glanced up at the roadway above them and then across the ravine where the van was a small dot moving slowly along the road. It would take them a while to reach this side, having to drive all the way around. "Not quite."

She looked over at the car and sighed. "I guess we won't be returning the car after all."

..

* * *

><p>AN: I find myself in the position of having to apologize yet again for your wait. I have a short pause between editing stages, and so I tried to use it to get this chapter out to you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Nelson, who was the voice of the Count on _Sesame Street. _He passed away last week at the age of 78. His memory will be cherished by the generations of children who learned their numbers from him.

* * *

><p>.<p>

~.~

Chapter Thirty

~.~

Rose sat at the desk in their hotel room, smoking a Marlboro in terse, staccato puffs while she tried to hack into the vampires' computer system. She had been at it for hours now and was tense and irritable. She'd known that the vampires had some of the most sophisticated cyber security systems in the world, but she had been confident in her skills. Watching her jaw get tighter and her forehead wrinkle, Emmett had vanished an hour ago and returned with a bottle of wine, a box of Italian chocolates, and a pack of cigarettes, which he presented to her with the timidity of a zookeeper using a pole to push a bowl of meat through the lion cage bars. It had made Rose smile, but that was the only smile any of them had seen from her in hours.

After the plane had landed, they had headed straight to a hotel to set up their "base of operations" as Rose called it. The first step, she and Nessa agreed, was determining whether or not the two of them still had clearance for entering the tower. If their access had been revoked or, worse, they were on an arrest-on-sight list, they'd have to figure out another way to get inside.

Jacob paced by the window. The tower could be seen in the distance, poking above the roofs of the nearby buildings. It was in an old section of the city, an ancient structure built for defense rather than ornamentation, and so it was a grim-looking structure of gray stone, relieved only by arrow-slit windows. At the very top of the tower, a smaller segment had normal-sized windows and Jacob would bet that was the Queen's quarters.

Nessa hobbled over to put her arms around him. Jacob paused for a hug and she smiled up at him reassuringly. "If anyone can get into it, Rose can," she said. "Not too much longer now."

"I hope so." Jacob looked at his watch. It was after ten PM local time. "We still need to figure out how we're going to get inside if you guys can't get through the door."

"I have an idea about that," Nessa said. "It was something I remembered while I was in the shower. Years ago, when Caius was head of the Volturi, I heard him talking to one of the guards about the ancient Roman sewers under the city. Apparently, one of the tunnels runs directly under the tower. He was worried they were a security risk, but the guard said no one remembered they were down there and the entrances were sealed off."

"Sealed off in what way?"

"I don't know."

Jacob rubbed his chin as he thought. "Do you know where it is?"

"I think so."

An idea began to take form in his mind. Jacob tried to keep his features impassive to hide his rising excitement. This was his chance to keep his brother and Rose out of it. He would prefer to leave Nessa where it was safe as well, but he had to take what he could get. "Let's go check it out. Is it far enough away from the tower that we won't be seen?"

"Yeah, it's on another street. I don't think they're watching it, anyway. Caius knew about it, but I'm not sure if he ever told Jane when she replaced him. He didn't like her, to tell you the truth, and he'd be unlikely to tell her anything that would help her do her job effectively."

"Even if it endangered the Queen? Yeah, I think I see why he was replaced. Rose?" Jacob turned to face her and Rose waved a hand at them without taking her eyes from the screen.

"Yeah, yeah, go."

"Wait," Emmett interjected. "Guys, I don't think this is a good idea. We shouldn't split up. Bad shit tends to happen when we do."

"You want to come with us?" Jacob offered.

Emmett shook his head. "I don't want to leave Rosie alone."

Rose cast him an irritated look, likely offended by the implication she needed his protection, but she said nothing.

"Don't worry, Emmett. We're just going to take a quick look around."

"You have your phone?"

"Yeah, but for Christ's sake, don't call me. I don't want my phone ringing if we're going to be sneaking around where there may be vampires." He gathered up two sheathed swords and passed one to Nessa, fastening the harness over his back. He tucked a pair of guns in their holsters into his waistband and tugged his shirt over them so Rose wouldn't see them if she happened to look over.

Emmett seemed troubled. "Jake, please ... Be careful."

Jacob nodded. "I will."

To his surprise, Emmett grabbed him in a hard hug. When he drew back, Jacob saw that his eyes were wet, and he realized that Emmett was sometimes more perceptive than he'd realized. Emmett glanced over at Rose, still hunched over her keyboard muttering darkly, and nodded. "I love you, Jake," he said softly.

"I love you, too, Em." He pitched his voice low so that Rose wouldn't overhear, nor Nessa, who was fighting with her sword belt and didn't seem to be paying attention. "Listen, if ..."

Emmett laid a hand on his shoulder. "You know I will."

"Thank you." Jacob hugged his brother again and turned away quickly, lest he tear up too. He took the belt from Nessa and helped her put it on and she smiled at him brightly. Jacob gave her a lopsided smile in response and they headed out the hotel room door. It wasn't until they were in the elevator that Nessa spoke.

"We're not coming back to get them before we go in, are we?"

"No." Jacob stared at the numbers as they counted down the floors. _5 ... 4 ... 3 ..._

"Knowing Rose, she'll come after us."

The doors opened and they stepped out into the lobby. "Emmett will figure out a way to stop her, even if he has to knock her out."

"She's going to be _pissed_."

"At least she'll be _alive_ to be pissed," Jacob retorted and instantly regretted it.

Nessa didn't respond until they had passed through the revolving door in front of the hotel. "We're not going to die, Jake."

_That's the spirit!_ Jake thought. His lips quirked in a humorless smile.

Nessa was using a cane to walk, something that they had picked up at a souvenir shop on the way to the hotel. Her gait was uneven, but she didn't seem to be as slowed down as she had been with the crutch. "Listen, Ness, I want you to promise me something -"

"_Don't_," Nessa said with such heat he stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at her. "Don't you _dare_ ask me. No, I will _not_ run to save my own skin if something happens. You wouldn't ditch me, and I'm insulted you think I'd leave you behind for any reason."

Jacob found his voice again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply-"

Nessa sighed. "Yeah, I know. You have this problem with not thinking before you speak. I'm hoping it's something we can work on, but I don't hold out much hope, honestly."

Jacob laughed softly. "You're not the first person to say that."

They crossed the street and headed down an alley. Jacob fastened the holsters to his belt so that he could reach them quickly. He heard a _snick-click_ and looked over to see Nessa checking the load on a gun of her own, and he smiled at her sneakiness because he hadn't seen her take one in the hotel room. She pulled up her skirt and stuck the gun in a holster on her thigh.

"Sexy," Jacob commented. He waggled his eyebrows at her to make her giggle but Nessa only gave him a faint smile.

"Just a couple more blocks," she said.

Jacob took his phone from his pocked and turned the power off. He zipped it inside one of the pockets of his black cargo pants. Rose wouldn't be able to ping it if the power was off, but he was tempted to toss it just to make sure, but it would be better to have a phone. Just in case. Just in case of what, he wasn't sure, because there weren't many situations with vampires where anyone he could call would be able to help.

Nessa led them around a corner and stopped. "Over there." She pointed to a construction site on the other side of the street.

"Well, shit, this isn't good," Jacob remarked. A building was under construction, its steel skeleton risking jaggedly from the raw earth. A small flock of yellow construction machines were parked around its base, and pieces of semi-transparent plastic sheeting in place of walls billowed and snapped in the breeze.

"There used to be a pair of buildings here," Nessa said in dismay. "The entrance was between them, somewhere in the alley."

"Do you know about where they stood?"

She shook her head.

"All right then. We explore. Hell, there's a bulldozer. We can dig our way in if we have to."

There was a chain link fence around the site. Jacob boosted Nessa up and she put her good foot through the links. She heaved herself to the top rail and balanced herself precariously, looking down at the ground on the other side with concern. "Just hang on," Jacob told her. He scaled the fence quickly and dropped to the other side. He held his arms up and she let go, tumbling down into his embrace. He couldn't help but kiss her before depositing her on her feet and she blushed a little, likely thinking of what had transpired in the plane's bedroom.

_Yeah. That was awesome. _Jacob hid a grin and led her through the site toward the building.

They ducked behind the equipment, darting from cover to cover. Jacob didn't know if there were any guards on site and didn't want to find out. He brushed aside a sheet of plastic and they stepped inside the building. He put his arm out quickly to stop Nessa from stepping forward because the first floor had not been built yet and the basement was a yawning pit, crossed only here and there by scaffolding.

"Christ, it's as dark as the inside of a cow in here," Jacob said. He climbed down a nearby scaffolding frame carefully and then caught Nessa again as she sat on the edge and then slid off into his arms.

"Look around; I'd bet there's a light around here somewhere."

"I didn't think to bring one, which was pretty damn dumb of me."

"I didn't think of one either," she noted with a shrug. "Besides, there was only so much we could do in the way of preparations before Rose would notice something was amiss."

Jacob was able to make out more detail as his eyes adjusted. He took Nessa's arm as they crossed the uneven floor. On a table with power tools, he found a helmet with a light attached to the forehead. He plopped it on Nessa's head and secured it with the chin strap. "Hey, you look really cute in that."

"Thanks." She switched it on and rotated in a slow circle. The beam of light passed over dirt walls, one of them half-covered in cement panels and then stopped on a small arch made of stone. "What's what?"

Jacob crouched down in front of it. It was only a few feet high, and the construction workers had already started bricking over it, but there was a small gap. Nessa tilted her head to shine her light into it and all they saw was darkness beyond, framed by curving stone-lined walls. Nessa dropped to her knees and crawled forward.

"No, wait, let me go first," Jacob said.

"Don't be silly. It's going to be a tight fit for you and there's no reason for you to go inside and maybe get stuck if it's not the entrance." She wiggled on her stomach through the hole. Jacob watched with appreciation the way her backside wiggled as she crawled, until it disappeared into the shadows.

"What do you see?"

"Mud floor, stone walls." Her voice was muffled. "There's a place where the floor is covered with planks but -"

Jacob heard the crack of wood right before Nessa's startled scream. He shouted her name and squirmed his way into the passage, impatiently bruising his knees and elbows against the stone. The tunnel was too low for him to get up on his hands and knees, so he dragged his body forward with his elbows, like a marine in a boot camp obstacle course, until his hands found jagged pieces of wood and empty space beyond.

"Ness!" he yelled, looking downward. He saw the beam of light move, the gleam of water, and then Nessa looked upward from about five feet below him, blinding him with the light. He threw a hand over his eyes at the same moment she realized her mistake and looked back down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, but her voice quavered.

The stink wafting up from below nearly gagged him. "I think you found the sewer," Jacob said and gave her a thumbs-up. "Good job."

"I have to give gravity the credit," she replied, but his little joke accomplished the goal and took some of that shaken look from her face.

"Step back. I'm coming down." Jacob braced his arms on the rim and swung his legs into the hole. He dropped and his feet landed in slick mud under knee-deep water. He slipped and would have fallen face first into the water if Nessa hadn't darted forward to steady him. "Thanks."

Poor Nessa looked bedraggled and miserable. She was soaked from head to toe and trembling slightly from adrenaline. Her dress was plastered to her body, the hem floating around her knees in the murky water. She looked around and the light beam from her helmet swept over the slimy stone walls of the tunnel in which they stood.

Jacob turned his back to her and stooped down. "Hop on."

She did, nimbly jumping up on his back and wrapping her legs around his waist. She stuck her cane through one of his belt loops. "Why are we doing this?"

"Trying to keep your cast out of the water," he said. "No doubt, it's ruined, but we don't want it falling apart on you right now. If I carry you, maybe it can dry a little." He started forward, trying to pick his way carefully through the muck.

Nessa laid her chin on his shoulder so that he could see by the light on her helmet. "I can't believe it smells so bad. They said it was an _ancient_ sewer. I thought they meant it was no longer used."

"That doesn't mean it won't stink," Jacob told her. "When I was still in college, I went on a dig in Greece. We excavated a garbage dump. City had been abandoned for nearly two thousand years, but when we uncovered that pit, we had to let it air out for a couple of days before we could stand to dig. Worst smell I ever encountered."

"How is that possible? I thought garbage rotted away."

He shook his head. "Anaerobic environment. Virtually nothing decays. The University of Arizona has been doing digs in modern garbage dumps and finding banana peels and newspapers from the 1940s in pretty much pristine condition."

"It's not anaerobic down here."

"Stagnant water," Jacob replied. "And you never know what kind of stuff has been leaching in from broken pipes or runoff from the streets above."

"Gross," Nessa muttered.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to a shower. Does this tunnel lead directly to the tower?"

"It runs beneath it. There was a grate in the sub basement of the tower, or so I heard. I was never down there, so I never saw it."

A ledge appeared along the side of the tunnel and Jacob hopped up onto it. He had to crouch to keep from knocking their heads against the roof of the tunnel, but it was better than slogging through God-knows-what. Something moved ahead and a high pitched screeching echoed off the walls.

"Rats?" Nessa whispered. He felt her shudder.

"You bothered by them? Think of them as being large hamsters."

"They're horrible. When I was a kid, we had chickens. I went out one morning to get the eggs and when I reached into a nest, a rat bit me. I pulled my hand back and it wouldn't let go. I was shaking my hand and screaming and its awful tail was lashing against my arm." She shuddered again and squeezed against him tightly.

"Yeesh. Sorry about that. I've had to deal with them on digs b-" Jacob froze and pointed upward. "Is that it?"

There was an elaborate, circular metal grill set into the roof of the tunnel Nessa tilted her head up to shine the light on it.

"Well, fuck," Jacob said. There was no way he could fit through that thing, though Nessa could.

"We'll keep looking," Nessa said. "Maybe there's another way in."

"Yeah, maybe," Jacob said. He continued to follow the little ledge along the wall, so he turned the corner when the tunnel split ahead.

And ran right into the bare chest of an elf walking around the ledge toward him.

Jacob lost his balance and he and Nessa fell back into the water, creating a surprisingly large wave that soaked the tall, black-haired elf, who gave a gasp so indignant that Jacob had to laugh even as he sputtered. Faces peered around him. The elves were all shirtless - even the females - and painted with bold and colorful designs. None of them stepped into the water to charge at the humans.

The lead elf's disgust and frantic attempts to wipe the water from his skin gave them a few precious seconds. Jacob grabbed Nessa, but she wrested away and swished her arms through the filthy water, frantically searching. "My cane!"

"Leave it!" Jacob scooped up Nessa and ran back down the tunnel, splashing water in huge arcs that would hopefully serve as elf-repellent. He reached the tower's drain cover and pushed Nessa up toward the tunnel's roof. "Go!" he said. "Hurry, Ness!"

"But-"

"Go!" he yelled, glancing back toward the elves anxiously. They were picking their way carefully along the ledge toward Jacob and Nessa. Jacob childishly kicked water at them, and though his small splash didn't reach anywhere near them, they all recoiled, nearly knocking each other into the water. They clutched at one another like drunken college students for balance.

"It's stuck," Nessa panted.

"Goddammit, _push_," Jacob shouted and shoved her up higher. The elves were advancing again. He heard a metallic grating sound and a small clang as drain cover popped free. "Go, go!"

Nessa wiggled up through the hole and then her face appeared over it, though the light blinded him so that he could not see her. "Jake!"

He couldn't fit, but neither could the elves. He had that much consolation at least. "You have to get to the Queen, Ness. Hurry!"

"Jake, I love you." Her slender arm, the pale skin gleaming like a pearl, descended and he clasped her hand. He pressed a kiss into the palm and curled her fingers closed over it. "I love you, too, Nessa. Go, honey."

He released her hand and drew his sword.

* * *

><p>The tower was shrouded in darkness, silent and still. Bella stared at it intently, but Edward's attention was solely on protecting his mate. Every sense was on high alert and he scanned the rooftop around them and the streets below constantly. He wanted nothing more than to get her away from this place.<p>

Their second stolen car sat in the alley below and Edward could hear the engine ticking as it cooled. They'd found it at a nearby house after they climbed their way from the canyon and Bella had insisted on stopping inside for a snack on the residents before they departed. As uncomfortable as Edward was with entering someone else's home and feeding from them as they slept, he had to admit they needed the energy. Healing the various wounds they'd acquired on this mad journey, and Bella's huge expenditure of power in the ravine, had taken a lot out of them.

"Maybe we can go in through the small windows at the top," Edward suggested. He brushed aside her hair and pressed a kiss to her neck. He couldn't keep his hands off of her, knowing that each touch, each kiss, could be the last.

Bella shook her head. "I'm not going to sneak in, Edward. I'm walking through the front door. I'll not harm anyone who doesn't try to stop me, but I'll have no mercy on those who do. I'm tied of this. Jane told me in the plane that it was time to end this, one way or the other, and she was right."

"Bella." He cupped her face in his hands. Their eyes met and held. He lowered his face to hers and took her lips in a kiss, soft and sweet.

"I'd ask you to stay here if I thought you would," Bella said softly as he drew back, and she brushed the hair back from his forehead. It flopped right back into his eyes, which made her smile, a soft, sweet smile tinged with a hint of sadness.

"Of course I wouldn't stay away," he replied. "My place is at your side ... come what may."

She nodded. "Come what may." She took his hand in her own and they stepped off the roof together, the first step in a journey with an uncertain destination.


	31. Chapter 31

.

~.~

Chapter Thirty-one

~.~

Jacob knew he didn't have a chance, even as he slashed his sword at the elves approaching him in an ever-tightening circle, but his hope was to slow them down enough to give Nessa a chance to get away. He was human; by comparison, he was slow and clumsy, and his experience with sword fighting came primarily from watching pirate movies. They elves inched ever-closer, their own swords drawn. Their eyes glittered with menace in the faint light from the open drain above.

Jacob swung the sword with one hand to try to keep them back and drew a gun with the other. He fired three shots into the chest of the elf in front of him, and the elf fell back into the murky water with a cry of pain. Jacob didn't have a chance to try anything else. A crushing blow landed across the back of his head and he was driven to his knees from the force of it. He shook his head to try to clear it, but that only made him more dizzy.

"Ow!" the elf he'd shot complained. He sat up and rubbed his chest and as Jacob watched, incredulous, the flattened bullets worked their way from the bleeding holes between his pectorals and plopped out into the water. The flesh knit together under his gaze, leaving only a few small trickles of blood to mark where they'd been.

Jacob tried to lunge back to his feet, but the female elf at his right clubbed him again and everything went gray for a long, silent moment. The one he'd shot kicked Jacob in the side with a scowl and he spat a Elvish word that made the others chuckle.

"Kill him," the female said. She sounded bored. She scratched one of her breasts, scraping little ruts in the paint, and Jacob's slightly disconnected mind wondered if it itched when it dried.

The elf he'd shot grinned. "Gladly."

"No, don't," another replied. He had long, silver hair and lavender eyes. Jacob wondered how such a soft color could be so cold. "The Goddess and her Chosen care for this human. We can use that to our advantage."

A chill of horror twisted Jacob's stomach. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't make Edward and Bella vulnerable just to save his sorry ass. "Should have known you fuckin' tree-humpers would be too soft," he taunted. _  
><em>

The female swung a wooden club at Jacob's head and he found himself face-down in the water, too stunned to move. The silver-haired elf hauled him upright with a grimace of disgust, and Jacob didn't know if it was from touching the filthy water or his human self. "Patience, Kachiri. You will get to kill him later."

Jacob thought quickly. There was only one way to prevent them from using Jacob to hurt Edward and Bella and he had to take it. He grabbed the last gun from his belt, but before he could raise it, a brutally strong hand crushed down on his own. He heard his own raw scream of agony as the bones were pulverized and Kachiri's cruel laugh. The world vanished in a red haze of pain. When the silver-haired elf was done, the gun was nothing but a wad of useless metal and Jacob's hand was a ruined pulp. Blood dribbled out where the jagged shards of splintered bone had pierced his skin.

He fell over again, his muscles turned to rubber by the agony. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. He had time to think he might die after all before one of the elves grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him, none-too-gently, to his feet. Jacob gazed at her with bleary eyes. Her hair was an odd pinkish-white and her eyes were crystalline blue. He was surprised to see they held compassion. She glanced at the others and gave him a shove. "Move," she hissed. He took a couple of stumbling steps forward as the elves headed down the tunnel.

He bit his lip to keep from shouting when he felt her touch his mangled hand, but suddenly, the pain vanished, leaving a tingling numbness in its wake. He turned his head to stare at her in astonishment, but she wasn't looking at him. His hand was still a broken, useless glove of flesh, but it no longer hurt. He wished he could thank her for her mercy.

He had a feeling that mercy was going to be in very short supply.

* * *

><p>It began to rain lightly as they approached the tower. Edward peered up at the night sky, the moon and stars hidden by roiling clouds, and asked Bella in English, "Are you doing that?"<p>

"No," she replied in the same language. "Clouds doing that."

There was a small courtyard in front of the tower, paved with small, gray cobblestones. Bella paused at the edge of it and took Edward's hand in her own and switched to Quechua. "I must conserve my power as much as possible." She nibbled on her lip as though considering her next words. "Edward, this may be -"

"I know," Edward replied. He glanced toward the forbidding structure. "It won't be easy."

"I'm afraid," Bella said. "For the first time, I'm afraid. I never had anything to lose, but now I'm terrified that something could happen to you and -"

He nodded. "My greatest fear is that you could die ... and I might survive."

She squeezed his hand. "You must."

He shook his head. "Don't ask me that."

After a moment, she nodded. Their hands still clasped, they set off across the plaza toward the tower. He heard her begin to sing under her breath: _"Come Monday, it will be all right/Come Monday, I'll be holding you tight ..."_

As they reached its center, half a dozen figures in black robes glided silently from the doors, which closed behind them with the loud clunk of a bar being dropped behind to secure it. The Volturi stopped in a "v" formation in front of it, like a flock of geese, silent and still, their only movement the hems of their robes fluttering in the breeze.

Bella stopped a few yards away, Edward right beside her. His hand flexed on the hilt of his sword, making sure his grip was good. He glanced over at Bella and longed for just one more kiss, but there was no time left for that now.

"I don't want to kill you," Bella said to the Volturi in Quechua. "But I will. I have no choice."

Edward repeated her words in Italian. The man at the point of the formation sighed lightly and then gave them a smile tinged with sadness. "I cannot let you pass," he replied. "I have my duty to my queen."

Edward glanced around at the others and saw jaws tighten and hands flex on the hilt of swords. He translated for Bella and she tilted her head. "Do they all feel that way?"

Edward nodded slightly. "Yes, I think so."

"Tell them I'm giving them one last chance." She raised her hands and a blast of wind buffetted the formation. Edward was gratified to see some jumps and gasps, uneasy glances exchanged between these cloaked figures. Bella flicked a glance at him. Brady was apparently their only null.

Before he translated her words, he pulled her into his arms for one last, brief, but soul-deep kiss. Pink tears welled up in Bella's eyes. "I love you," he whispered.

He turned his head to the Volturi. "She won't warn you again. Step aside now, or die."

"We are sworn to protect our Queen with our lives," the leader said. "Just as you would not be parted from yours, I'm sure."

Edward could respect that. He gave a nod and turned back to his beloved. "Ready?"

She gave a single nod, and then launched herself forward, so fast even vampire eyes could not track her. Her blade flashed in the pallid light as she swung at the Volturi at the head of the formation. He swung up his own blade to catch hers.

Edward was only a fraction of an instant behind her. Unlike a movie, the Volturi did not wait to attack one by one. They swarmed toward Edward and Bella in a frenzy of blades and swirling black robes. Bella spun and dodged, lashing out with kicks and jabs between thrusts of her sword, driving back the others with her speed and agility. Edward didn't have her skills; all he had was desperation.

It was a hard fight, the hardest they had yet faced, and for a while, Edward was pretty sure they weren't going to make it. There were only half a dozen of the Volturi, but there seemed like far more when blades flashed in all directions. Swirling black robes seemed to fill his vision. It came as a shock when they had finished and there was no one left to fight. Bella stood, trembling slightly, her skin coated with gray ash, plastered to her by the rain.

She braced her hands on the massive doors and shoved. Even with her incredible vampire strength, they didn't budge. Edward joined her, but even together, they could not break it down.

Bella muttered a curse in Quechua. She glanced speculatively up at the windows and then shook her head. She closed her eyes. Both of them strained, Bella both physically and mentally. For a moment, nothing happened, then the wood began to groan and creak as it bowed inward from the incredible force of her power. With a loud _CRACK!_ it finally shattered and Bella sagged against Edward's side for a moment, her eyes dazed from the effort. "Stay behind me," Edward urged.

Bella smiled faintly and shook her head. She took his hand in her own and joined him at his side, where she belonged, as his equal, his partner.

They stepped inside the darkened interior and there wasn't a chance for their eyes to adjust before they were attacked again. Edward fought blindly, unable to see how many enemies there were until his eyes adjusted. His new instincts gleaned data from his opponents by scent: "_Female, elder ... Male fledgling ..."_

Bella neatly decapitated a Volturi and snatched his sword out of the air as the hand that held it disintergrated. With one blade, she was deadly, but with two, she was nearly unstoppable. Stupidly, Edward froze where he was and stared at her, awed by her vicious grace.

A body in a black robe crashed into his, knocking Edward to the floor. He flipped them over, but forgot his strength, slamming the Volturi down so hard that they broke through the wooden floor and plunged downward, landing on the stone floor of the basement. Edward landed on top of the Volturi he was fighting, and they both groaned.

"Sorry," Edward muttered automatically, even as he rolled over to where he saw his sword gleaming in the dim light filtering down from the hole in the floor above. Thankfully, it hadn't fallen down the open drain in the floor. He swung the sword and the steel blade clanged off the flint floor tiles in a shower of sparks as the Volturi crumbled to ash.

He looked up at the hole in the floor above, his instincts going haywire at being separated from his mate when she was in danger. "Bella!" he called, but there were no sounds from up there. He crouched to jump, but he doubled over in pain. He looked down and saw his shirt soaked with blood. A long, jagged shard of wood protruded from below his ribs. He yanked it out with a hiss. "Bella!"

"Edward?"

He spun around, though it wasn't Bella's voice he heard. Nessa was peeking out from behind the door of a cabinet.

Edward stared at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I came with Jake. We-"

"Jacob?! Where is he?"

"They captured him. He -"

Edward cursed and she faltered to a halt. She climbed out of the cabinet, hopping on one foot. Edward went over to help her and she cringed at the sight of his bloody shirt. "You're hurt!"

He'd forgotten about it. The wound had stopped bleeding, but hadn't healed yet. "I'll be fine."

"Here." She extended her wrist to him, but as much as he probably needed to feed, the scent of her blood was distinctly unappetizing.

He gave her a faint smile. "Are you kidding? Jake would rip my head off if I drank from his girl. Come on." He scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

Stone stairs circled around the walls of the tower. Edward charged up them, taking them three at a time until he reached the first floor. The room was empty, the floor caked with ash amid empty black robes. A small pair of footprints led from it toward the stairs and he followed the trail.

Relief washed through him when he saw Bella a few steps down from the next floor. He stated to speak, but she pressed a finger over her lips. She gestured at Nessa and Edward plunked her down on her feet. He crept up the next few steps and peered around the door sill into the room beyond. Nessa crouched and peeked out from beside his knees.

_Oh, shit_, Edward thought. Bella was good, but she wasn't _that_ good. There were dozens of Volturi in there, in rows in front of a heavy wood door, their swords at the ready. The room was empty of all furniture, its only decoration the embroidered tapestries on the wall. It had only arrow slit windows and he didn't see any evidence of electricity; the majority of the light came from the fireplace at the right, where yellow flames crackled and danced, casting wavering shadows on the wall.

With a sigh, Bella raised her hands. Edward heard a soft sound and turned to see Nessa press her hand over her mouth. Tears shimmered in her eyes and Edward realized that some of them must be her friends.

The air began to swirl. Edward saw bits of dust from between the stones at their feet rise and become a small tornado which grew with every moment. Bella pushed her palms outward, as though shoving the tornado out into the room. It swayed sinuously across the room to the fireplace, where it began to catch bits of the flame and twirl them around, like winding cotton candy on a spool. Its whisper became a roar as it sucked up every bit of the fire and then surged forward, toward the Volturi, who had no weapons against something like this.

Edward heard screams of panic which turned to pain, but they cut off almost as abruptly as they began. It takes only seconds for a vampire to be consumed by flames.

Nessa sat down on the stone steps and sobbed, her hands clasped over her ears. Bella sat down as well, her strength sapped. Edward checked the room and found that nothing but ash remained. "Stay here," he told Nessa and Bella and headed for the door, blackened and scorched but still intact. One hard yank was all it took to break it open.

It was a tiny room tucked under the stairs and inside, a group of about a dozen humans huddled, eyes wide with terror. Edward flinched at the almost palpable waves of pain that emanated from them. This had been what the vampires guarded: daymen and their families. Had the vampires really thought that he and Bella would hurt them, and made a choice to protect their loved ones instead of the staircase leading to the Queen's quarters?

Most of the people were crying, their faces twisted with rage and grief as they glared at him. Edward wanted to protest that he wasn't a bad guy; there really were no bad guys in this situation, only two sides forced into opposition through no fault of their own. But there would be no comfort in his words.

Bella and Nessa joined him at the doorway. "You go," Bella said to them, her tone gentle.

"Fucking evil _bitch__!" _a dark-haired woman at the front of the group spat at Bella. She then turned hate-filled eyes to Nessa and snarled, "Traitor."

"Claire, it's not like that," Nessa protested, but her voice was weak, as though she realized the futility. They hadn't wanted to kill the Volturi, but they were dead just the same. "Everyone, please, go. Get your families to a safe place."

Edward and Bella stepped back to let them pass. Most of them went, leaving only two behind, a man and a woman, holding hands, their chins pointed up in defiance though they both trembled slightly. The man had a dayman's scent, and the woman was human. They wore matching wedding bands.

"Charlotte, Peter, please go with the others," Nessa coaxed.

Peter shook his head. "We can't, Ness. I can't leave Didyme."

"His vampire," Nessa explained at Edward's questioning glance.

"Where is she?"

"With the Queen, where she belongs," Peter said, and his voice held pride and love.

Bella stepped forward and captured Peter's eyes. "Sleep," she said and caught him as he went limp. Charlotte cried out and darted toward, or would have, if Edward hadn't grabbed her arm. Charlotte squeezed her eyes tightly shut and Edward chuckled at this very simple, but effective, anti-hypnosis technique.

Bella sighed impatiently. "One way or the other, you sleep. I hit you on head if I have to."

Charlotte wisely opened her eyes at that and Bella caught her neatly as she collapsed. But instead of laying her down beside her husband, Bella pushed Charlotte's head to the side, exposing her neck. Bella lowered her head and Edward thought of objecting, but he smelled the blood as soon as Bella's fangs pierced Charlotte's throat and he couldn't resist the hunger's pull. He took the woman's wrist and bit gently and heard himself growl softly when the flavor burst into his mouth. Food had never tasted this good when he was a human. He forced himself to stop after a few gulps as Bella had done, enough to heal his wound and replace some of his energy, but not enough to harm Charlotte.

Bella looked better already. A dot of blood clung to her upper lip and Edward pulled her into his arms and sucked it off, hungry for the taste of her mouth, the feel of her in his arms, her soft body pressed against his. He was lost in the passion of the moment until Nessa cleared her throat and then they broke apart with little sheepish smiles. _Oh, yes, that's right ... The war._

_"_How many more floors before we reach the Queen?" Edward asked.

"The next floor up is the administrative and records offices," Nessa said. "The floor above has the Queen's apartments."

They closed the door behind them and Bella bent the latch so that Peter and Charlotte couldn't get out. "To keep them safe," Bella told Nessa, who seemed to be on the verge of protesting. Nessa slowly nodded. Humans had no place being around vampire battles. Edward wished he'd shoved Nessa in there with Peter and Charlotte.

"Is that where they would be holding -" Edward stopped when a sudden rumbling, cracking noise filled the air. Then, the sound of dozens of feet on stone stairs as the daymen and their families scurried back up them, fleeing from a strange, undulating green wave which rippled up the stairs like the train of a gown.

"Snakes!" one of them screamed.

It wasn't snakes, though he could understand how human eyes could make that mistake. It was a green mass of vines, slithering up the stairs and across the floor in serpentine undulation. They spilled through the arrow slit window as well, the tips aloft and swaying as though scenting the air for a target.

"Elves!" Edward wasn't sure which one of them had said it. He grabbed Nessa and tossed her over his shoulder and seized Bella's hand and they ran up the stairs, the daymen right at their heels. The door at the top was locked, of course. Bella tugged on it and hammered her fist on the wood.

"Please, let us in!" Nessa shouted, hoping her familiar voice might convince them.

"Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!" someone yelled back.

The daymen added their voices to the pleas, but the door remained firmly shut. Edward understood; the Volturi likely thought it was a trap. "This is no time to fuck around," Edward barked, surprising himself by speaking aloud. He rammed into the door with all of his strength and it snapped at the hinges, falling partially through the doorway. They scrambled over it and Edward pushed it back into place, leaning against it to hold it up.

The Volturi charged at them, but halted when they saw familiar faces among them, panicked humans and daymen, some of which scattered to run to their vampires. The Volturi had stacked desks in the center of the room for cover and some of the people opted to hide behind them, as though they'd become invisible beneath a table.

"The tower is under attack," Nessa screamed over the loud, hysterical babble of frightened people.

"Uh, by _you_?" one of the women asked.

The vines piled up against the closed door and began to shove with incredible force. Edward felt his shoes skid on the floorboards as it pushed against his back. Thin tendrils slipped under the gap below the door, winding around his ankles, ironically helping to keep him steady.

"No, by the elves." Nessa let out a cry of horror and pointed to a thick vine that managed to squeeze through the side of the door. Bella hacked it off with her sword and put her back to the door to try to help Edward hold it in place.

"Elves?" One of the male Volturi went over to look out the window. Whatever he saw out there made him recoil in horror. "But ... I don't understand. why would the elves be attacking us?"

"They want to make Bella the Queen," Nessa explained in a rush. She had retrieved a pair of scissors from a nearby desk and was busily snipping the thin vines that managed to work their way under the door.

The Volturi turned to look at Bella in puzzlement. She sighed. "I not _want_ to be Queen. I just want to _talk_ to Queen. But you make me kill you to get here."

"Dark Goddess!" A shout from outside. Bella startled. The shout was repeated and she looked over toward the window.

"I'll take over," one of the Volturi offered politely, and he leaned against the door beside Edward so Bella could slip away. She nearly fell because of another vine which had wrapped its way around her ankle.

"Whoops! Sorry!" Nessa clipped it with the scissors and tugged it away.

Bella went over to the window and pulled a desk below it so she wouldn't have to stand on tiptoe to see outside. She hopped up on it and gazed down. Edward saw her clap a hand over her mouth and pink tears welled up. "Shaykob," she whispered.

"Jake?" He looked over at another Volturi and back at the door. The man understood without Edward having to resort to words and he took Edward's place against the door. Edward hurried over to Bella's side and slipped an arm around her waist as he gazed through the narrow opening.

Jacob knelt in the center of the plaza, under the driving rain. His face was a bloody mess and one of his hands was oddly misshapen. Behind him, a silver-haired elf held a sword to his neck.

"Oh, God, _no_," Edward said. He'd thought Nessa meant the vampires had Jacob. Vampires at least had laws which ostensibly prevented them from killing humans; elves had no such niceties.

"What do you want?" Bella called.

"You know what we want, Goddess," the elf replied. "Do it, and we will give your friend back to you. If not ..." He shrugged.

"Don't do it, Bella," Jacob yelled and was rewarded with a brutal kick to his side that sent him sprawling across the paving stones.

Bella turned to Edward and gazed deeply into his eyes for a moment. Sadness filled her own and the tears that were swimming in her eyes plopped down onto her cheeks. "I surrender," she said. "I surrender and end this." Bella hopped down off the desk, her jaw set. She marched over to the door. "Step 'side."

"My lady, we cannot do that," said the Volturi who had taken Edward's place. "We have a duty to protect our Queen."

"I not able to fight vampires _and_ elves." Bella's voice was low and she rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes.

"Seems to me that everyone in this room is suddenly on the same side," Nessa said. "Make no mistake, the elves want Victoria dead. Bella doesn't."

"You think we'd trust a turncoat like you?" a woman in the back of the room jeered.

"I'm not a traitor," Nessa retorted. "You don't know anything about the situation. All of this time, I've been doing what the Queen sent me to do: trying to prevent a war. Unfortunately, there are those who have been working behind the scenes to sabotage it." She glanced around the room at each of them and a few couldn't meet her gaze. "And now, it seems we don't have a choice any longer. War is here. Do you want to fight united against our common threat, or do you want to fight on two fronts? And remember, the elves aren't out to harm Bella, so she could use them as her own personal army if she wished."

"But, they're blackmailing her!" The man who had taken Bella's place at the door shook his head. "Not exactly a display of loyalty."

"Think about that for a moment, you dolt!" Nessa snapped. "If they were under her command or her allies, do you think they'd _have_ to blackmail her? You're looking right at proof that Bella is not the Queen's enemy but are too blind to see it."

"She's killed dozens of us."

"So, she was just supposed to stand there and let them kill her and her friends to prove her loyalty?" Nessa asked. "Of course she fought back. She had no choice. But she's never gone on the offensive, has she?"

"Brady and Aro-"

"Went rogue," Nessa said bluntly. "Bella and Edward went with the Volturi peacefully. I think anyone who was there would tell you that."

Glances were exchanged around the room.

"Then Brady and Aro tried to force a battle, and they got their wish, didn't they? Instead of Bella being brought to see the Queen as she agreed, she ended up being attacked by those two and put under 'terminate on sight' orders by the entire Volturi. And you guys bought it ... hook, line and sinker."

"_Dark Goddess!"_ The shout came again from the plaza and Bella let out a soft cry of distress. Edward put his arms around her, both to comfort her and to keep her from going to the window. If she saw -

An idea occurred to him. "Bella, can you build and hold a wall of fire?"

She wiped her cheeks again and answered in Quechua. "For a while, but it uses a great deal of energy."

"How long?"

"A few minutes, perhaps."

Nessa tilted her head. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we've got to destroy those vines," Edward said. "If we can do that, the elves will be reduced to hand-to-hand and we might have a chance."

The woman who had called Nessa a turncoat nodded. "We'll fall back to the top floor." She glanced at Bella and spoke in English. "Don't think this is the end of it, though."

Bella drew herself up to her full height, insubstantial that may be, and somehow managed to look down her nose at a woman nearly a foot taller than she. "And _you_ should not think you can presume to judge a goddess," she said in Quechua. Edward had to struggle to keep a smile off his face as he translated.

The Volturi retreated up the stairs and Bella held the door in place with her power until they had reached the top of the stairs. She raised her hands and set the air to spinning once more, gathering up the fire like a fork winding spaghetti. She let the door fall and sent the blast at the thick mass of vegetation that poured through the opening like a massive green serpent. The vines tried to recoil and writhed in the sheet of flames, blackening and crumbling in an instant. But more and more of it came and Edward had a sickening vision of the lower floors of the tower packed full of vegetation.

Even from this distance, Edward could feel the hellish heat of the flames. Someone let out a sob, no doubt thinking of the terror of their vampire's last moments.

"Go!" Bella called over her shoulder. "I cannot hold it much longer."

He didn't even bother to respond to something so ridiculous. He laid his hands lightly on her shoulders, willing her to have his strength. With a gasp, she dropped her hands and the inferno died instantly, leaving only the wooden door crackling with yellow-orange flames. Lying in the doorway as it was, perhaps it would keep the vines back for a while, if the elves sent more.

Edward scooped Bella up in his arms and charged up through the door, slamming it behind them. A mass of Volturi converged on it, carrying heavy furniture to pile against the door. Edward turned and saw a woman with long, vibrantly red hair, her pale face flecked with freckles. The Queen of the Undead wore a SpongeBob t-shirt and jeans that were frayed at the hems around her bare feet.

Bella smiled and recited one of the first lines she'd ever learned in English. "I am Bella. Nice to meet you."


	32. Chapter 32

~.~

Chapter Thirty-two

~.~

.

The Queen of the Vampires approached Bella warily and took the hand Bella extended. Bella gave it a shake, and then she did something Edward would have never expected: she dipped her head in a small bow. It was not quite the bow one should give to a queen, but it was a startling concession from a woman who believed herself to be the goddess incarnate.

"Respec' to you, Queen," Bella said.

Victoria looked surprised, but she bowed her head in return, though she never took her eyes from Bella's face. "Respect to you, as well."

"Your majesty!" a woman near the window called, her eyes wide with fear. She gestured frantically outside.

Victoria headed for the window. "What is it, Sue?"

"It's... you have to see..."

"Oh, fuck me," Victoria whispered. Her hand tightened on the windowsill until the wood cracked beneath the pressure.

Outside, hundreds of elves had gathered, standing in a silent ring around the plaza. They carried bows and swords, and the rain melted the paint on their bare chests in rivulets down their stomachs. They stood in orderly rows, silent, _waiting._

As they watched, two elves carried out into the plaza a large black bowl with a rounded bottom which they placed on a metal stand. A female stepped forward with a silver jug in her hands. Even from this distance, Edward could see how carefully she carried it, her arms extended, and her face turned slightly away. Her steps were slow and she held it gingerly, as though it were a sleeping snake that would awake and strike if she weren't cautious enough.

She reached the bowl and tipped the jug over it. Out poured a stream of shimmery liquid and when it struck the bottom of the bowl, there was a huge burst of greenish fire. She darted back, quickly, as the flames rose higher.

Edward shook his head and frowned at this defiance of physics. Nothing in the bowl to burn, yet the flames seemed to grow with every moment until it was a raging bonfire. The elves dipped wooden torches in it and the green flame leapt eagerly to the wood, though there was no padded fuel-soaked wadding on the ends.

"Elvenflame," someone said behind them and Edward turned to look questioningly at the man who had spoken.

Edward didn't know what that was, but the horror on the man's face spoke volumes. "Bella, make it rain harder and put it out."

The man shook his head wildly. "No! You don't understand! It's not like ordinary fire. It spreads like liquid and clings to whatever it touches, eating its way through like acid." The man was slowly backing away from the window as he spoke, though Edward didn't think he realized it. "You can't put it out with water; that only makes it spread more. You can't stop it. You can't-"

"Call," Victoria said to him, her tone pleasant. "Chill that shit out, okay?"

Call's eyes were bulging in his pale face but he nodded.

"What are they doing?" Sue asked no one in particular as she stared at the motionless elves surrounding the tower.

"Waiting," Victoria replied. "Dawn comes in just a few hours. They know the fledglings and young vampires among us can't fight the pull of the dawn." She glanced around the room. "They'll conk out where they stand, no matter what's going on. We'll lose half of our number with no effort on their part. Including me."

"No!" Edward burst out. The unquenchable flames hadn't scared him as much as this, the thought he wouldn't be able to fight at Bella's side. "There has to be something -"

Two elves stepped from the group and took arrows from their quivers. Simultaneously, though the move had been choreographed they dipped the heads of the arrows into the flames and notched them in their bows. Two streaks of green fire shot across the sky and landed on the roof of a small building at the edge of the courtyard.

"The garage!" one of the men watching at the other window moaned. "My Bentley is in there."

As Edward watched, he saw the true horror of elvenflame. Just as Call had said, it spread like water, pouring in a smooth wave over the surface of the roof. Edward watched with fascination. It didn't burn as much as consume, seeming to dissolve the roof below it as the smokeless green flames twisted higher into the sky. It ran down the wall in rivulets, leaving empty space in its path. Edward could see the cars gleaming inside, reflecting the verdigris glow of the fire. A glob of elvenflame fell through the roof onto a car and began to eat through the metal. Within a few moments, the car was engulfed in flame and its alarm began to wail in protest. The man who'd mourned his Bentley moaned again.

Bella stepped back from the window and looked up at the wood ceiling. "Anything above?" she asked the queen.

Victoria shook her head. "Just the roof."

"We can't go down. They burn roof. If fire not burn us, sun will." Bella shook her head and turned to Edward. She switched to Quechua. "I can try to keep the sun blocked with clouds, but it may not be enough. Edward ... they've left us with no other options." She went up on tiptoe and kissed him, a kiss of sweet sadness and when she drew back, pink tears glittered on her cheeks. Edward didn't know if they were hers or his.

She glanced back out at the elves and her face hardened and her eyes had a dangerous glitter. "I was given no choice but to become the Goddess, but no one will ever again force me to accept a destiny I do not want."

She put a hand on the queen's arm and Victoria jumped a little. "We must go down," she said in English. "You and I."

"The hell you will," Call snapped. "I can't let my queen go down there alone with you."

"Call, she's right," the queen replied. She glanced around the room and she nodded. "It's the only way. They'll burn the tower down around us and we'll burn too, from the elvenflame or the sun."

"We can go downstairs," Call said, his voice tinged with desperation. "The floor here is stone. It can't burn through stone, can it?"

Nessa spoke up. "You just saw it burn through metal, Call. And those vines..."

"I can't," Call said, and his voice broke a little. He knelt before the queen and looked up at her with shining eyes. Edward knew the that Nessa's claims about the queen had to be true, to inspire such loyalty and love from those around her. "Victoria, I can't-"

She smoothed his hair and smiled gently at him. "I'm ordering you to."

Call closed his eyes and two tears fell from them to glitter on his cheeks. Victoria looked around again. "All of you, I'm ordering you to stay here and don't interfere. No matter-" She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "No matter what you see. Do you understand? You're servants of the throne foremost. Not the one who occupies it."

There were exclamations of protest but Victoria remained firm. She said a few words to some of them, distributed some quick hugs and then looked around. "Nessa, where are you?"

"Over here." Nessa was till by the window. She hobbled over to the queen and Victoria pulled her into her arms. "Thank you, Ness," Victoria whispered. "I want you to know I always knew you were loyal to me, and I know you tried to stop this."

Nessa choked back a sob and squeezed Victoria hard. "You come back to us," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Victoria replied, and the smile she gave Nessa wobbled a little. She turned to Bella and squared her shoulders. "I'm ready. How do we get down there?"

Bella pointed. "The window." There was only one large enough for them to fit through. It would be a tight squeeze for Victoria, who was curvier than Bella.

Bella thrust out her hand and the glass from the window exploded outward in a spray of shards which tinkled faintly as they shattered on the stones of the courtyard far below.

"You know, you could have just asked me to open it," Call said. Victoria cast him an amused look as she and Bella passed. They both looked outside, down at the wet, gray stones below.

"That's a hell of a fall," Victoria commented. "This is going to hurt."

"I carry us," Bella told her.

But there was no need. As soon as the elves spotted the queen and the goddess at the window, preparing to exit, one of them stepped forward and shouted a word in elvish. He raised his hands and a low rumble began which grew louder and sharper by the moment. The stones on the plaza heaved and shattered as thick roots burst up in two sections, emerging like a pair of many-fingered hands. They bowed toward one another and entwined, setting as they formed the shape of stairs. Victoria recoiled when the roots touched the base of the window, but they simply laid down to form a step. The whole mass went still when it was shaped properly.

Victoria looked at the stairs and raised an eyebrow at Bella. "Uh, after you."

Bella chuckled and climbed through the window. She stepped out onto the staircase and paused, as thought to make sure it would bear her weight, and then began to descend. Victoria followed, stepping carefully on each tread, her arms held out for balance. When they had both reached the plaza, the roots unfolded themselves and slipped back down into the earth, their work done.

Edward watched them go from the broken window. His hands were clasped on the sill, and he didn't even notice the small glass shards in the frame digging into his palms as he watched his mate, his love, his life, walk toward her destiny.

* * *

><p>Jacob had been moved to the back of the rows of silent elves. No one guarded him, as though they were confident her could not escape or uninterested in whether he did.<p>

His hands were bound behind his back with a piece of vine. He was waiting for his chance, and had any of them been watching him, they might have seen the tension in his posture.

His hands were bound, but they had forgotten one of them had been smashed into a pulp. he had already tugged experimentally and knew he could slip it out at any moment. There was a pile of extra weapons which the elves had left only a few paces away.

He had to wait until their attention was occupied. It would only take him seconds to reach those weapons, but they were so much faster. He only had one chance at this and he had to make it count.

* * *

><p>Bella strode toward the elves, both of her swords in hand, but held down at her side. The tip of one of them scraped across the stone as she walked and she saw a few winces from the somehow-ominous sound.<p>

The crowd parted to allow an elf with black hair to pass through their midst. Unlike the others, he was covered from head to toe, wearing a dark gray robe with a hood. His head was bowed and it wasn't until he reached the front of the group that he lifted it so she could see his face.

"Shinx," Bella said.

"Dark Goddess, Mistress of Night and Lady of Rain." He bowed deeply to her, ignoring the queen on her right.

"I happy to kill you," Bella told him. She moved her sword slightly and instantly, arrows dipped in elvenfire were pointed at her chest.

"I will give my life in your service," Jinx replied. "Even if you still refuse to believe what I have done has been to serve you."

"I do not want this," Bella cried in frustration. "Why none of you understand that?"

"We do not choose our destinies," Jinx told her as a faint smile played around his lips.

Bella glared at him. _"I do_." She switched to Catalupan, knowing he spoke it. "When we met you said to me that I had many possible fates and I could decide which to embrace. But you are no better than the priests who took me from my mother and decided what I would be. You want to take away my choice instead of showing me the possibilities, as you said. You lied to me."

"You never had a choice, Goddess," Jinx replied, his tone as gentle as the rain that pattered to the stones around them. "None of us do. All of this was written in the book of fate long before we were born. You have fought it for too long, Bella. And your futile battle has come at a terrible price. Do you wish to lose everything? Everyone you love before you will accept what you cannot change?"

"You call your own desires fate," Bella retorted. "For centuries, men have claimed their will was that of the gods to create a cloak of righteousness to cover their naked selfishness. Your 'Balance' is domination wrapped in a pretty name. Perhaps I would respect you more if you could bring yourself to admit it."

"Oh, my precious girl," Jinx said. He reached out as if to caress her cheek, and his eyes held something akin to love. Bella slapped his hand down, but he spoke as warmly as though she had welcomed his touch. "Who gives these desires to those of us with the power to shape the world?"

Bella gave a short, humorless laugh at his hypocrisy. "But _my_ desires, the desires of the goddess incarnate, are not in line with fate's path?"

Jinx was not insulted. "All of this had to happen for a reason. Your resistance served a higher purpose, though what purpose we may not know. Now, it is up to you to decide if you will sacrifice your Chosen to continue it." He gestured and the elves with the flaming arrows lifted them, pointing them at the roof of the tower. To her left, the crowd parted and revealed Jacob kneeling on the stone. Bella started to see him there. Jacob didn't look good. His face was too pale and bruised where he'd been struck. He looked at her pointedly, as though trying to communicate some message, but he was too far away for her to connect with his mind. She shook her head slightly to tell him she didn't understand.

"I know you do not want that," Jinx continued in that eerily gentle voice. "All of them can be spared, Goddess. You and your Chosen can live in peace."

"Again, you lie," Bella retorted. "You wish us to war with the humans."

"We will be your army." Jinx gestured at the elves around him. "We will pledge our loyalty and obedience to you, a binding oath."

Promises were not made lightly by the fae. The binding was real, sealed by ancient magic and if a bound oath was broken, he who made the promise would die.

"We would protect you," Jinx continued. "We would even take you to the AlterWorld to live in peace and happiness in the Eternal Forest, if you so desired."

Bella couldn't help but be amazed by that. The AlterWorld was where the elves who had left this dimension had fled. It was populated solely by elves and the creatures of nature. No man or vampire had ever seen it, to her knowledge. To welcome Bella and Edward there was proof that the elves were fully prepared to embrace her as their ruler.

For a moment, she was almost tempted. She saw it in her mind, an idyllic realm of peace and beauty, where she and Edward could love and laugh and play for eternity, safe from all harm.

"Take it, Goddess," Jinx urged. "Take your destiny in you hands. Take the throne you were born to have."

"_Fuck. That._" Victoria's voice cut through the silence and every head swiveled to stare at her. She stood there, somehow still regal with her brilliant red hair rain-soaked and plastered to her head, her SpongeBob t-shirt dripping. A barefoot queen, magnificent in her fire. "The throne is _mine__. _I am the Queen of the Vampires. That was _my_ destiny. And no one will take that from me."

Jinx narrowed his eyes and his lips curled in a sneer. "You barely survived a rebellion of your own kind. Half of your people refuse to acknowledge your rule."

Victoria tilted up her chin. "But I did survive, elf. And I'll survive again, though I doubt you'll live to see my words come true."

Jinx laughed, a laugh full of derision and many of the elves joined him.

"How's this for a binding oath?" Victoria spat. "Before the sun rises, Jinx, I swear I'll hold your severed head in my hands."

A sharp, cold wind buffeted them and some of the elves shifted uneasily. The promise had been sealed and one of the two would be dead at sunrise. Jinx laughed again, but there was a hint of nervousness in it. Victoria did not drop her steady, piercing gaze.

Jinx shrugged and addressed Bella. "You have come to the moment of choice, Goddess. Accept your destiny or accept the price of continuing to fight it. What is your decision?"

The bows that pointed the flaming arrows at the tower roof creaked in the silence as everyone awaited her answer.

Bella closed her eyes for a moment. "I take my destiny."

Victoria made a small sound and the look she gave Bella was full of hurt, then resignation. She glanced over at the elves and then, without warning, darted over to snatch a sword from one of them. The elf didn't try to stop her. He grinned at his compatriots and they nudged one another as they exchanged whispers.

Victoria ignored them. She held the sword out, pointed at Bella. "It's my throne," she said, and her voice was steady, though she had to blink tears out of her eyes. "You won't take it while I'm alive."

Bella nodded. She glanced down at her hands and tossed one of her own swords aside. She held her own out, the other arm extended back for balance.

A cheer rose from the elves and Jinx grinned so widely, it seemed his face would split. He shouted something in elvish and they cheered again. It was so strange to see smiling faces where they had been grim and cold moments before.

"You have embraced your destiny, Goddess, and we have embraced you," Jinx told her. He spread his hands as if to tell her, "Go ahead" and backed away to give Bella the room she needed.

Room to kill the Queen of the Vampires and take her place.

* * *

><p>Jacob heard the first clash of swords and that's when he knew the moment had come. Every elf was focused on the fight occurring in the middle of the plaza. He yanked his deflated hand through the strand of vine binding his wrists and dove for the pile of weapons. A sword gleamed on the side of the pile and Jacob snatched it just as a hand grabbed his arm. He rolled and stabbed upward, right into the chest of an astonished male elf.<p>

The elf froze, staring down at the blade bisecting his pectorals. It was a fatal mistake, that stare. Jacob released his grip on the sword in the elf's chest and snatched the elf's own sword from his slack hand. He swung it at the elf's neck as hard as he could. His left hand was weaker than his right, but the sword was razor sharp and broad enough to do the job. The elf's head thudded to the ground beside him, still wearing that shocked expression. Jacob glanced around quickly, but the elves were cheering so loud, they didn't seem to notice the clash of swords.

But someone had. He scrambled to his feet, just in time to raise the sword and block the blade aimed at his own neck. His new opponent was a woman, whose long blonde hair gleamed despite the way the rain slicked it to her head. Another woman lunged at him, but Jacob managed to spin away quickly and the second woman faded back to the sidelines as he struggled with the blonde.

Jacob was no swordfighter, and she was dizzyingly fast with her slashes and thrusts. Jacob was driven backwards, away from the crowd as he desperately swung the blade to try to block. She was far stronger than he was and his arm was tiring quickly. He couldn't even try an offensive move, and he knew her strategy: wear him out and then move in for the kill. Jacob knew he was fucked.

Until a small blur burst from along the edges of the crowd of cheering elves and plowed into the elf he was fighting, knocking her off her feet. Jacob struck fast, and the blade clanged onto the stones as he took off her head. Looking at it made him slightly sick, for she wore that same expression of surprise as the first one he had killed.

His rescuer was still laying face-down beside the dead elf. He reached over to help her, and that's when he saw the second woman again, whom he had forgotten in the chaos of the fight. He slashed out his sword as he spun around to face her and managed to knock hers from her hand. He swung back to strike and that's when he recognized her. It was the pink-haired elf from the sewers, the one who had taken away his pain with a touch. She stood before him, helpless, scared, her blue eyes wide.

He lowered his blade. "Go."

She nodded and fled, her bare feet slapping on the wet stones. Jacob turned to his rescuer again and that's when someone punched him in the gut.

It was the most peculiar thing. The puncher didn't remove his fist. He grinned at Jacob. Jacob looked down and saw a dagger with an ornate silver handle sticking out of his stomach. He understood why the elf he'd stabbed with his sword hadn't moved. It was a shocking sight, one that didn't seem to make sense, and all he could do was gape.

Nessa appeared at his side and gave a cry of rage and effort as she swung down the sword Jacob had dropped. It caught the elf in his shoulder and drove him to his knees. He pulled the dagger from Jacob's stomach as he fell. Nessa grunted as she yanked out the blade and then she swung it hard, sweeping the elf's head from his shoulders.

"Nessa?" he blurted. "How-? Where-?"

"Oh, my God, Jake," she gasped.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt," Jacob said. but his knees suddenly gave out and he fell to the paving stones. His head was spinning. Nessa appeared in his line of vision and he could see her lips moving, but her words were muzzy and indistinct. "I'm okay, I'm okay," he said.

Nessa yanked off her shirt. She was wearing a tank top under it. Jacob appreciated the view as she leaned over him and pressed her shirt to his stomach, hard. Okay, _that_ hurt. He winced. "Hey, that hurts!"

"Gotta keep pressure on it," Nessa said. "Gotta keep pressure on it." She looked around and spotted the wide belt worn by the male elf they'd just killed. She unbuckled it and yanked it off. "Can you sit up?"

"Yeah, I think so." Jake pushed himself up with his left arm. That's when Nessa noticed his mashed hand and cried out in horror.

"It's okay, that doesn't hurt," he assured her. She looked at him like he was nuts while she put the belt around his waist and tightened it. Jacob hissed. "Sorry, but we have to keep-"

"Pressure on it, I know." He looked around to make sure no one else was going to randomly attack them. "How did you get here, Ness?"

"I climbed down from the tower," Nessa said. She pointed over toward the building and Jacob saw a rope made of knotted sheets. "Uhh, more accurately, they lowered me down, but here I am!" She grabbed him by the ears and yanked him toward her for a passionate but fast kiss. Her cheeks were wet. "God, Jake, I-"

"Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound," he said and she gave him a watery smile.

A loud cheer went up. They both glanced over at the crowd of elves, which had surged forward to make a tighter circle round Bella and her opponent. None of them paid any attention to the commotion behind them and Jacob simply couldn't understand it, though he was greatly appreciative.

"Where's Edward?" he asked her.

"With Bella. That's where he said he was going, anyway. He helped me out of the sling they tied around me and then he ran for the crowd. I came back here because we could see you from the queen's chambers."

"We've got to get you out of here," Jacob said. He pushed himself to his knees and tried to rise. She had to help him to his feet and he found he couldn't stand up all the way because a horrible, sharp pain knifed through him whenever he tried. He tried to keep himself as calm as possible, but it was starting to sink in that he was in serious trouble. He could be bleeding to death internally, or a ruptured organ could be spilling bacteria everywhere. He was still moving around under his own steam, so for the moment, his chances were good, but he didn't think getting to a hospital would be happening in the near future. For a moment, he wished he'd died instantly because he didn't want Nessa to have to watch what might be a painful and grueling end.

"Where should we go?" Nessa asked, but froze when she realized that the cheering had abruptly stopped and her voice rang out in the silence. The elves in front of them fell to their knees in a wave and they saw Bella in the center of the circle, standing over Queen Victoria's prone body, her sword pointed against the queen's throat.

"No!" Nessa screamed.

* * *

><p>It was a tougher fight than Bella expected. Aside from the Volturi, human and vampire societies didn't seem to train their women to be warriors. But Victoria fought viciously. She fought for her life and throne. Even as she tried to find an opening, Bella admired her. She wished things could have been different.<p>

They swirled, dodged and darted across the wide circle as the elves cheered. As the elves jostled forward, she saw Jacob dive for the pile of weapons and she hastily threw up a shield, a wall of air which would muffle any sounds he made. It was the only thing she could do for him. She had done it in the past and she wasn't entirely sure how it worked but as long as he stayed behind it and she didn't lose her concentration, he shouldn't be noticed, at least temporarily. It might give him a chance to get away.

But that was not to be. At one point, she saw him fighting and she knew she lost her concentration a few times, dropping it when she couldn't concentrate on both and throwing it back up when she could. She didn't see him again because the elves had crowded closer, more tightly together, and it lent a desperation to her fighting. She had to end this so she could save her Edwurr and Shaykob. End this once and for all.

And then, there it was, her chance. She lashed out with her foot and caught Victoria in the side of the knee and then swept the queen's legs from under her. Victoria fell to the paving stones with a groan. Bella kicked again and Victoria's sword skittered away over the stones. Bella held up her sword and the elves roared in approval. Jinx stepped forward. His green eyes glowed with pride and joy and that huge grin was in place again.

"Marvelous, Goddess. You are a work of art."

Bella looked down at the queen. Even lying on her back on the wet stones, Victoria was unconquered. She met Bella's eyes squarely, ready to accept her fate. She wouldn't beg or weep, wouldn't shrug off that simple dignity she wore like an invisible crown.

"Finish it," Jinx urged.

"I am," Bella said. "You told me I could expect your fealty. I want your promise."

Jinx nodded. "I understand, Goddess. You would not wish to take such a dramatic step without knowing you have our support." He said something loudly in elvish, rotating on his heel as he called out the words, so that everyone could her them clearly. The elves knelt, the entire massive group dropping to their knees.

There was a scream and Bella looked up to see Nessa stumbling toward her, obviously trying to run but hampered by her cast. or what remained of it: it was mostly a shredded lump of soggy plaster and cloth, held together mostly by force of habit.

Bella caught Jacob's eye. He looked shocked and blood had soaked through the wadded shirt over his abdomen. Nessa was trying to push through the elves, but they wouldn't move for her. Tears streamed down her face. "No, Bella, _don't_!" she cried. "Please, no!"

"Shaykob, hold her," Bella said in a voice that brooked no disobedience. Jacob nodded and pulled Nessa back to him as she sobbed and struggled.

"Don't hurt her," Victoria said. "She's loyal and that's a quality you won't often find." Her voice held a hint of bitterness.

Bella nodded. "I not hurt her," she said in English. She couldn't do such a thing and break Shaykob''s heart but she had no time to explain that as the elves began to chant in one voice. A sharp wind picked up and stopped as abruptly as it had come.

Bella smiled down at Victoria. "It's over," she said.

Jinx knelt before Bella. "You have our fealty, Goddess. Our loyalty, our obedience, our service belongs to you, as you command."

"Thank you." Bella raised her voice to be heard by all. "I accept your pledge." And with that, she reached down and took hold of Victoria's arm and drew her to her feet. She put the sword into her hand and nodded toward the kneeling Jinx. "You have promise to keep."

Victoria blinked in surprise, but spun around, raising the sword.

"Wait, what- " Jinx sputtered.

Victoria smirked at him. "Told ya." And with that, she brought down the sword. She bent over and picked up the dripping head and held it up in front of the stupefied elves. She dropped it and crisply ran her palms over one another, as though dusting them off. "What now?"

The elves seemed to want to know the same thing.

Bella shouted it out so that all could hear. "I am Bella, Dark Goddess, Mistress of Night, Lady of Rain. I take throne of vampires and elves. You gave fealty to me. Now, I give throne of vampires to Vic'ra - Vickka - Vrict- this lady." She pointed to Victoria, who was struggling not to giggle at Bella's struggle with her name.

Bella turned on her heel as Jinx had done, looking over the elves sternly. "You obey me now," she said. "Go. Go make flowers."

"Make... flowers?" one of them repeated.

Bella nodded. "Green things. You make them. You grow new trees. You use power to heal, not hurt. Not war."

"Bella!" Edward shouted. She turned and saw him being held by two elves. She wondered how long he had been there. "Let go," she told them and they released her Chosen. He ran over to her so fast, he skidded on the wet stones and she caught him before he could fall. He planted kisses all over her face and then swept her off the ground into a hug. Over his shoulder, she saw Nessa push through the audience of still-stunned elves.

"Bella!" she cried. "Please, it's Jacob!"

Edward put her on her feet and they ran after her, through the path the elves cleared for their new ruler. Jacob lay on the pavement, rain pattering on his white face. Even his lips were white. Bella knelt down beside him. "Shaykob? Shaykob?"

He opened his eyes. "Hey, Bella, sweetie," he said. He moved his eyes slowly, as though it were an effort, to Edward. "Hey, buddy," he said.

"Oh, shit, Jacob," Edward said and looked around wildly for a moment, as though a solution would present itself. Like Bella, he could hear the weak flutter of Jacob's heart, and smell the blood that had poured out of him when the weakened vessel nicked by the knife had burst during his struggle to hold Nessa back from running to save the queen.

Bella lifted her wrist to her mouth and her fangs descended to puncture the skin.

"No," Jacob said.

Bella put her hand on his shoulder. "Shaykob, if not, you will -"

Nessa let out a loud sob and clapped her hands over her mouth to hold them back.

"Bella, I can't. If I'm a vampire..." He paused as though speaking were an effort. "I couldn't be with her."

"Jacob, please," Nessa said. "I'd rather have you alive than-"

"...hospital," Jacob muttered.

"You won't make it," Edward said flatly. "Jake, for the love of God, _please_."

"I can't." Jacob shook his head slowly. "Wouldn't want to live anyway. Not without her."

"I can help." A soft voice came from behind them. It was from an elf, a female with bright blue eyes and strange pink-white hair.

"You," Jacob said and smiled softly.

"Me," she agreed and knelt down beside him. She pulled away the blood-sodden wad of cloth over his belly and placed her hands there. Jacob cried out in pain and Nessa jerked as though she were going to grab the elf but restrained herself.

Nothing seemed to happen for a long, agonizing moment and then she drew back. Jacob's flesh was scarred where the knife had punctured, but it was whole. Nessa leaned forward and smoothed away the blood with her hands as if making sure and then looked up in wonderment at the elf.

"He's not bleeding any more." The elf rose to her feet gracefully. "I cannot restore what he has lost, so he will need time to recover, but he is whole again. He will live."

"His hand?" Nessa asked.

The elf smiled. "He is whole," she repeated. Nessa picked up Jacob's hand and rubbed it against her cheek. A sob burst from her and she looked up at the elf with tears rolling freely from her eyes. "How can I thank you?"

"He already did." The elf smiled one last time and then faded into the crowd.

"We need to get him to a hospital for a transfusion," Edward said.

Nessa hadn't moved. "I was sure they'd have to cut his hand off," she said. She looked up at Bella. "I knew he'd hate that."

Bella helped her to her feet, knowing Nessa was in shock. "You need dry clothes," she said. "Vikkra, you loan Nessa clothes?"

Victoria smiled and put her arm around Nessa's shoulders. "Sure. Anything."

..

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><p>AN: My apologies as always for the tardiness of this chapter. My book is being released in less than 24 hours and I've been swamped.

There's one more chapter after this one. I hope to get it out to you soon. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me. Your support, your reviews, your kindness, are deeply appreciated.


	33. Chapter 33

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Chapter Thirty-three

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_Six months later..._

"Edward, dude, your tie is crooked." Jacob frowned slightly as he adjusted it. He glanced down and smothered a smile as he noticed Edward's socks didn't match. Edward wasn't colorblind now, but he was still absent-minded when his brain was focused on physics. Even now, Edward had that slightly blank look in his eye which told Jacob he was off on some mental tangent, his brain likely churning with equations or formulas.

"There." Jacob stepped back to survey the results and picked an errant string off the sleeve of Edward's tuxedo. On his lapel was a silk flower made by Alice; the elves had objected vehemently to the idea of killing flowers for simple adornment, and the humans declined to wear flowers with their roots still attached so they could be replanted.

When Nessa insisted she wanted flowers for her wedding, the elves had offered to decorate for her. Nessa had always dreamed of having her wedding in beautiful church, but none of them were members of a congregation, and so they had found an abandoned cathedral in Detroit. _Worked out for the best_, Jacob thought, because no one minded the blossom-bedecked cherry and magnolia trees that had burst up through the floor to line the central aisle, or the vines bedecked with lush roses that had covered the walls. They had even laid down a carpet of grass that grew thickly over the floor, dotted with tiny purple violets. Because they had to hold the wedding at night to accommodate their nocturnal guests, thousands of candles lit the room.

The elves were even considerate enough to decorate two dressing rooms for the bride and groom. Jacob's room had benches made from wood which had woven itself into furniture. The elves made nothing that was plain or utilitarian. No, these were works of art, the wood curved and curled into elaborate deigns. Kind of strange to sit on a chair and realize it was still alive. Jacob had horrible visions of the things grabbing him and had declined to make himself comfortable.

Jasper had no such qualms. He was lounging on one of the benches, reading a _People _magazine and drinking a YooHoo. He and Alice had tied the knot a few months ago and Jacob had to admit, Jasper had turned out to be a good husband for Jacob and Emmett's little sister. Jasper was still working at the university, but he'd been promoted to manager of the maintenance department. He and Alice would never be rich, but it was a steady job that paid the mortgage on the little house they'd bought, and provided health insurance for Alice and the kids.

Alice had gotten more steady work in singing jingles for commercials. She'd never be a superstar, but she didn't really want that, anyway. She had finally figured out what she wanted from life, and that was to be happy with her husband and raise her kids. Both she and Jasper still had a lot of growing up to do, but they were working on it together with a therapist.

Edward was muttering something about "lepton isospin doublet," which Jacob wasn't even sure was English, and was pacing while he thrust his hands repeatedly through his hair. Jacob wordlessly retrieved the notebook from his bag he had packed for this very reason and handed it to him. Edward snatched with a grateful smile and began to scribble, his pencil moving across the page so fast that it was nothing but a blur. A pencil, not a pen, for Edward still didn't have perfect control of his strength and he crushed ink pens when he was concentrating. His hands usually bore blue splotchy stains as a result.

Edward flipped the pages rapidly as he filled them up with equations and what looked like representations of molecules surrounded by Greek letters. Jacob smiled and turned back to the mirror to adjust his own tie. The super-speed of vampires had been very helpful in getting Edward's ideas on paper before his brain charged ahead to the next thought.

The university hadn't batted an eye at Edward's new nocturnal schedule, likely because the work he produced was even more remarkable than before. His mind was clearer, Edward told Jacob, and he was better able to see connections between seemingly unrelated concepts.

He was working now on a new theory of physics, one which might end up knocking String Theory off its pedastal. He was still in the early stages, but buzz was growing as his work was passed around in scientific circles. Rose had tried to explain it to Jacob, that it seemed possible Edward might be on track to producing the long-elusive Grand Unified Theory of Everything, a single theory which would explain all of the strange and wonderful quirks in the world of physics.

But one of the first things Edward had done was erase Jessica's memories of Jacob, and of her plotting with Lauren and Tanya. Jessica now remembered Jacob as a boring nerd and her relationship with Alice as a casual fling. She was set to graduate in the summer. All of them would breathe a sigh of relief when she was gone.

The scratching of Edward's pencil abruptly stopped. Edward blinked and his eyes sharpened into focus as he met Jacob's gaze in the mirror. "Where's Bella?" he asked.

Jacob shrugged. "Off doing elf queen shit, probably. Hugging trees or knighting bunnies. Don't worry. She'll be here."

Bella had adapted well to her duties as Queen of the Elves, and what's more, the elves actually seemed happy with her rule, though no one would have ever imagined they'd be pleased to follow a vampire. Instead of the slow and sad exodus of elves to the Alter World, the elves were now returning to this dimension. Bella, with her personally-selected cabinet members, sent them out in groups to "settle" all over the world, reviving the ancient elven hills. And as more of them returned, the power of the elves was growing once more to what it once had been.

Ecologists were amazed to see brownfields begin to bloom once more. In the rivers, the fish populations were beginning to recover as pollution levels inexplicably dropped. It would take time; the elves had hundreds of years of work ahead of them. But it seemed they could help the planet recover from its damage now that their focus and energies were directed toward "making flowers" as Bella had commanded, instead of waiting for the day humans would be decimated. All it had taken was a leader to steer them back in the proper direction. The elves were happy to be doing what nature had intended them to do.

And Jacob was back to doing what he was supposed to do, as well. Edward funded digs for him and paid the outrageous insurance fees (and sometimes bribes to secure the permits.) Jacob had objected to the expense until Edward had explained he wanted to spend his money on things that contributed to the sum of human knowledge. And it's not like he would miss it, he'd said with a shrug. He already had more money than he could spend in multiple lifetimes, and vampires had plenty of time to see long-term investments ripen. So far, Jacob hadn't made any more amazing discoveries like the temple in Catalupa and his papers were snubbed by the world of academia, but Jacob was content that eventually, they'd be accepted, even if it never happened in his lifetime. Edward would see to it that his work was not lost.

Nessa had turned out to be an enthusiastic dig partner and assistant. She did not complain about the heat, bugs or backbreaking labor that yielded only a few pottery shards and she kept Jacob's notes and records so well organized that he didn't know how he'd ever functioned without her. Maybe it was her dayman nature which made her so adaptable to whatever those around her needed, but he believed it was her love for him that made her the best partner a man could hope for.

Nessa had never met her vampire match and had quietly drawn her name from the database. Jacob had objected because he remembered what he'd heard about daymen always feeling an aching void until they found their vampire, but Nessa had shaken her head with a smile as she hugged him. "Nothing is missing from my life. I have everything I need right here to make me perfectly happy."

Jacob still wasn't sure he was good enough to make her happy, but he was going to die trying. He grinned at his reflection. Maybe it was time for him to start reading those romance novels again.

The door opened and Bella strode in. Edward dropped his notebook and his eyes widened as he stared at the vision of beauty before him.

The elves had very firm ideas about how their queen should look, and so Bella was always elaborately coiffed, spectacularly dressed and accentuated with model-perfect makeup. Fortunately for her, the sprites were the ones who did her primping through their subtle magic, using spells to instantly weave her hair into intricate designs or change her gown in a blink of an eye.

For some reason, the sprites adored Bella, and they followed her around in small, glittering clouds. As a human, Jacob only caught occasional glimpses of them out of the corner of his eye, a tiny flash of gold that vanished as soon as he tried to look directly at it, but Edward could see them and said the air around Bella always sparkled with their lights.

The sprites all wanted to dress their queen and style her hair, and so they had decided to take turns. However, sprites aren't too clear on the concept of time, and so each turn varied in length, from hours to only a few moments. Whenever she went out, Bella had to sternly order them not to change her appearance until she said it was allowed again.

Currently, Bella was dressed in a light pink gown that looked as though it had been designed for _The Lord of the Rings._ The movie had apparently gotten that much right about them: elven fashion sense seemingly hadn't been updated since the Middle Ages. She wore a crystalline tiara that cast rainbow prisms when it caught the light. Jacob had asked about it, because it looked like glass to him, but he'd been told it was actually something called _dalla_ wood, which grew in the Alter World. _Crystal trees._ Jacob shook his head. _Wild_.

Bella had with her two elf guards, another thing Bella's new subjects insisted upon. One was a tall, silent creature with white hair, and the other was the pink-haired elf who had healed Jacob. Her name was Petal, and when Bella had wanted to reward her for her kindness, the position of Bella's bodyguard was what Petal had asked for. The other elves had objected, wanting Bella guarded by a second warrior, not a healer, but Bella had refused to be budged. Petal and Jacob exchanged smiles. He liked her. She was a hell of a mean poker player.

"Nessa say she ready," Bella said.

Edward snapped out of his spell and came over to take Bella into his arms. He gazed down into Bella's eyes, helplessly enraptured. Jacob wondered if he looked that sappy when he looked into Nessa's face. He hoped so. Edward and Bella were proof that passionate adoration could last and he fully expected one day to look down at Nessa, her brown eyes surrounded by wrinkles and gray hair, and still be stricken speechless by her beauty and the sheer power of the emotion that swelled within him when she smiled.

"I'll wake up Emmett," Jacob said and went to the back of the room where his brother had flopped down on a patch of soft grass, his arm thrown up over his eyes, snoring. All he'd said about why he was so tired was that Rose kept him up late, but the small, dreamy smile that had accompanied the words explained it all. Rose and Emmett's wedding was planned for the fall.

Jacob had been right about how mad Rosalie would be when she found out after the battle she and Emmett had been intentionally left out of it. When she saw Jacob again for the first time afterwards, she had punched him in the gut and then grabbed him in a fierce, tearful hug. When she'd finally stopped crying long enough to talk, Rose called him a few choice names and then told him: "We're not elves, so I can't pull a binding promise out of you to never do it again, but I swear if you ever leave us behind like that again, I'll kill you myself."

Emmett sat up woozily when Jacob poked him with the toe of his shoe. "Wedding time?" he asked.

"Getting close. We gotta head to our places now." Jacob helped Emmett to his feet and dusted off his tux.

"Ready for this, bro?" Emmett asked.

"I think I've been ready for this all my life," Jacob said. "I just didn't know it."

Emmett clapped him on the shoulder. They headed out the door together.

"Your majesty?" Petal said to the queen and her consort, still enraptured by one another. "Sir? Your majesty?"

Jacob and Emmett exchanged a glance and then laughed. In the hall, waiting for them, was Victoria. As usual, she wore one of her deceased husband's t-shirts, a dark blue formal gown over it. The combination actually looked pretty good, in Jacob's opinion, but he could imagine how much she'd had to argue with Esme over that one. And with Bella, come to think of it, for wearing that taboo color.

Amid her bright red waves, Victoria wore the crown of the vampires, made of blood red rubies - of course - and onyx. There were some who still refused to accept her rule, insisting that Bella was the true queen, but Bella ignored their appeals and said, "Do what Vickra say!" (Bella's English was still imperfect after all this time because she communicated primarily in Quechua and let Edward translate for her into the many languages used by the elves.) Victoria quietly took a seat in the back of the room, among the elves perched on grassy hill that had been created over a pile of the cathedral's debris. She ignored the elves's curious glances, wondering why she chose to place herself among them. But Jacob understood. It had to hurt, watching such happiness when she had lost her own mate. Still, she had come for Nessa's sake and he appreciated it.

Jacob and Emmett headed up to the altar, through the enchanted forest the elves had created in the elegant ruins of the cathedral. There were many of them present, seated on the woven wood benches that had been created in the place of the broken pews, curious to watch a human wedding, and curious about Nessa's friends, the vampires and daymen who took seats on the benches or the grass. Some of the vampires hopped up into the trees beside the elves and made themselves comfortable.

From the corner of his eye, Jacob saw Rose come up to take Emmett's arm and lead him over to one of the benches. They sat down together, holding hands. Jacob had a vision of them, elderly and peaceful, sitting on a porch swing like this, watching the sunset together.

Paul and Angela sat beside them, their hands clasped. They weren't engaged yet, but Edward had a feeling that would happen soon, if the way Paul watched Angela with adoring eyes was any indication. Felix occupied the bench behind them, grinning with such pride and love that you would think he was the father of someone in the wedding party. Alice and Jasper were on his left, Alice snuggled against her husband's side.

Esme was seated in the front row. She had flown in from Paris, where she now lived. Edward said she was dating a French vineyard owner, and he was absolutely delighted that his mother might find happiness again. She smiled at Jacob, a sincere, wholehearted smile and when he put out a hand, she used it to draw him into a hug. When he released her, she had tears in her eyes and she started to say something. He knew what it was and it was unnecessary. "It's okay."

Esme bit her lip, then nodded.

"I'm glad you're here," he told her.

She answered by hugging him again. He broke away when he heard the music start, the soft, eerie tones of elven flutes, played by a trio perched in the trees by the altar. The doors at the back of the chapel opened and Nessa stepped through them. Jacob sighed and felt his face stretch into a grin. The most gorgeous woman in the world was walking down the aisle and, amazingly, he was the one she was walking to.

Nessa appeared to have been groomed by the sprites, and he wondered it it had been willing because her hair was entirely different than the style she'd worn for the rehearsal. Her auburn curls were down around her shoulders, woven into an complicated pattern, held back with a pair of pearl combs. She wore an empire-waist white lace gown with a small train. The sleeves belled out, fluttering around her slender wrists, and as she neared the altar, he saw that her feet were bare against the grass. He smiled even wider, if that was possible.

He'd call it a happy ending, but that wasn't correct. It was a happy beginning.

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><p>Edward took Bella's hand as they stood by the altar and watched the ceremony.<p>

"We never had a wedding," he murmured to her in Quechua, so softly the other guests could not hear.

"The elves have been complaining about that," Bella replied. "They don't recognize human marriages because they can be dissolved, instead of a binding promise. It's a scandal for them to have an unmarried queen. They want me to have an elven wedding, and soon."

"Oh?" Edward said casually. "And whom shall you pick for your consort?"

Bella did not tease him in return. "It will be you. Always you. Forever you. I have lived a very long time, Edward, but I never knew love like this existed. You have given me an extraordinary gift, and I would happily bind myself to you for eternity."

Edward was silent for a moment, trying to think of a way to put it into words. So many things to say, but no words for them. "Eternity won't be long enough."

He bent and kissed her, just as Jacob took his bride into his arms and kissed her, too. The sound of the human guests' cheers and applause faded into the background as they both forgot the world again.

No, eternity wouldn't be long enough.

~ _Finis_ ~

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><p>AN: Thank you again, dear friends, for joining me on another journey, and thanks as always for your patience. As I write this, I'm half-way through my third novel, which I'm writing as a NaNoWriMo project. (Can I add today's FF word count to my total, or is that cheating?) Your support, kindness and enthusiasm have meant so much to me. Thank you.


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